Reading The Son of Sobek
by Layla-Fae
Summary: Carter, Sadie, Zia and Walt are transported into a room at an unknown location with Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and Nico and there only way of getting back home is to read "The Son of Sobek" by Rick Riordan. Can they all keep the peace for so long? Let's hope so...
1. Chapter 1

The Reading, Part **1**

Chapter I

CARTER REALLY WASN'T SURE how they got into the small dark room, but his knew it was bad.

Two winters ago, when Carter and his sister, Sadie, defeated Apophis and saved the world, all of there lives became normal. They went to school, they hanged out with friends, and lived life as normal teenagers. Yes, of course they still were in training, and took care of some issues dealing with evil magic, but those were rare events that we're handle quickly and easily.

And this wasn't just him and Sadie. It was all the kids at Brooklyn House. They all had blood of the pharaohs yet there lives weren't so bad...

Carter knew something had to get in the way of it soon.

Maybe that's what had happen? Because he expected so. Probably from he fact that one moment he was in the Brooklyn House, in the library with his girlfriend Zia trying to find a lost penguin, and then, the next thing he knows, right after he blinks, he's laying down on a carpet floor, face first.

It freaked him out at first, causing his to jump to his feet and frantically look around his new surroundings. The room was low lighted, and about the size of an apartment. The open space had two long, white sofas and four chairs all gathered around in a circle with a coffee table in the middle. The carpet was a dark red color, and felt soft under his socks.

Carter then saw a person behind him in a laying position, dark hair covering her face. Zia.

Carter scratched down and saw she was okay. She was just as dazed and confuse as he was. He helped her get to her feet.

"Where are we?" She asked. She scanned the room, she looked mentally prepared to attack anything of danger.

"I'm not sure." Carter replied. He took her hand in his, and travel on forward to the room. But before he could go far, he heard two loud 'thumps' behind him.

When he turn around, he saw two more body figures on the floor, laying like they just got knocked down onto there bottoms. One of the two was Carter's sister, Sadie Kane, and the other was her boyfriend, Walt, who was the current host of the god of funerals and death, Anubis.

Sadie shook her head and once her blue eyes landed on Carter, they turned into a steel, mean glare and he knew he was in trouble.

"Carter!" She yelled in her British accent. "Where are we?! Why?! And how badly did you messed up now?!"

"Okay one," Carter said defensively. "I don't know Sadie, I'm just as lost as you. And two, what makes you think it's my fault? You mess up just as much as I do! If not more!"

"I know this is your fault because it's plainly written on your face!"

"No it's not, because it's not!"

"Sure it's not! Just like it wasn't your fault when Philip got out to the streets of Brooklyn!"

"I forgot to lock the pool up afterwards! Sorry! For Horus's sake, are you ever going to let me live that down?!"

"No, I'm not!" Sadie shook her head. Okay, he admit, that was a stupid question on his part. Sadie never let him live anything down. "And don't even get me started of the time y-!"

"Sadie," Zia cut her off. She nodded her head back towards the other other side of the room. Carter couldn't help but smile at the sight of the curl of hair that hanged behind her ear. He loved that curl.

Carter turn towards the other side of the room, and his eyes got wide.

In front of them stood four other teenagers, two boys and two girls. One of the boys, the older one, about 18, had black, wind blow hair and piercing sea-green eyes. Carter recognized him right away. Percy, that kid he fought with when they faced the son of Sobek two winters back.

Carter squeezed Zia's hand, there secret way of warning the other about bad things that were coming. He felt her look at him with concern but then turn back to the others.

The other boy looked like he was the youngest out of the group, maybe fourteen? He had messy black hair that look like he just rolled out of bed, and it covered a little bit if his dark eyes. They almost looked black that made his pale skin even whiter. He wore dark jean, and a dark red shirt and a black jacket. He looked like the kind of kid you didn't want to mess. He reminded Carter of Anubis when he first saw him, just younger.

One of the girls had blonde hair that was tied back in a ponytail. She was tall and tanned and wore a grey jacket with a orange shirt underneath and jeans. Her eyes were grey like her jacket but they were darker, and also stormy, like she was trying to solve a million questions at once. She stood next to Percy like Zia stood next to him, like they were getting mentally prepared for a fight if there needed to be one.

The other girl was a totally different story. She had short, spiky black hair that framed her sharp features. She had freckles that ran across her cheekbones and her electric blue eyes popped from her eyes. She wore a black, Green Day t-shirt and skinny jeans. She had what seemed to be a tiara on her head and had a bright lively glow to her. She light up the dark room a little.

Carter turn towards Percy to see he was already looking at him with alarm in his eyes. He also knew this wasn't good. This wasn't suppose to happen. Whoever or whatever caused this...

"Well, Hello there." The black haired girl spoke first. Carter realized then she had similar features to Percy and the other boy. In the way they stood, they way they hold there selves as they glance over him and his friends. Also in the way they looked, all of them having the same shape of their eyes, same noses, and same gentle yet rugged look.

"Hey." Sadie replied to the girl. She crossed her arms but still gave a small smile that was somewhat friendly looking. "I guessing you have no idea of any of this either."  
She gestured to the whole room.

"Not a clue." The dark looking boy admitted.

Carter looked around the room for any sign and notices a piece of paper on the table. He let out of Zia's hand (which he really didn't want to do at all) and walked over to the table.

The paper was a letter. He soon read a loud.

Dear Magicians and Demigods,

You are in a unknown location and can not leave till you read the book that is in the drawer of this table. When you finish reading this book, you may leave. Please introduce yourselves to the others, including all y'all special titles, and, please, don't kill anyone. Thank you.

"That's all it says." Carter reformed. "It doesn't have the name of the writer." He said. That worried him greatly.

He looked up to the four strangers and tried to keep his voice under control. "Hi, I'm Carter. Host of Horus." He turned back to his friends for there turn. Of course, Sadie was the first to step forward.

"I'm Sadie. Host of Iris."

"I'm Zia. Host of Ra."

"I'm Walt. Host to Anubis."

They all greeted the others. Carter didn't think it was smart to give out last names just yet. He might have known Percy but he didn't know the others. The word 'demigods' started to stir around in his head again. He saw all the confuse and shock looks on there faces.

"Host of whom?" The blonde asked.  
"I never heard of those gods before. And what's a host?"

"I think you guys just broke my brain." The younger said, holding his head.

"That doesn't really take a lot to do." The black hair girl grumbled. The boy glared at her.

"I'm Percy. Son of Poseidon." Percy smiled. Probably ending the fight before it happen."And these out my friends, Nico, the son of Hades, and Thalia, the daughter of Zeus." He gestured to the two other black haired kids.

"And my girlfriend Annabeth." He pointed to the blonde. "The daughter of Athena." They all smiled, but still were on guard.

Carter then open the drawer to the table and pulled out a paper back book and his heart stopped. On the cover was a picture of him and Percy. Percy was jumping over Carter with his sword drawn, ready to kill. Carter had his own sword out, looking ready to fight Percy. Waves of water surrounded them and Carter guessed it must have been of there little fight in the Long Island Swamp. At the top, the title was printed in red letters "The Son of Sobek".

Oh no... He should have known they would read about this. His hands started to shake and he avoided Percy's eyes on him. But yet he knew that Percy knew.

"Who or what is an Athena?" Sadie asked, just as confused as Carter and the rest of them. Carter has heard of them before and the thought run chills down his spine.

"She's the goddess of-" Annabeth was about to say, but Percy elbow her, telling her not too. She glared at him. "Never mind."

"What about we start reading then." Walt suggested. "The book looks thin enough to read and finish today."

"Okay then." Carter said. He wasn't excited about reading this book, but, like the letter said, they had to to escape and return home. They had no way out if it. "I'll go first."

All eight of them settle down on either one of the couches or one of the chairs. Zia sat beside him on one of the couches, and he couldn't help but think of how beautiful she looked in the low light. Her black hair looked glossy and her amber eyes changed colors of chocolate brown, golden hazel, and dark forest green. Now all she needed to do was threaten to kill him, and he be done.

Once he finally looked away from her, he looked to see all of them settle down and ready. Thalia, Nico, Sadie and Walt were in the chairs, which left Percy and his girlfriend Annabeth, in front of them. Great...

Carter open up to the first page and stared to read. "The Son of Sobek by Rick Riordan." Carter forced himself to remember that name.

"GETTING EATEN BY A GIANT CROCODILE was bad enough."

"What?" Nico asked, trying his best to hold back a laugh. Carter tried no to blush and read on.

"The kid with the glowing sword only made my day worse."

"Glowing sword?" Annabeth asked, glancing over to her boyfriend who didn't meet her eyes.

"Carter I knew you aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer but getting eaten by an crocodile is really sad." Sadie said.

"How do you know it was me?" Carter challenged.

"Well, my dear brother, you are the only one who would start a story off that way. That and if I'm not mistaken, that's you and the Percy fellow on the cover."

Carter really hated his sister some times. He felt his face flush red as everyone lean over to see the cover.

"Percy, is that really you?" Thalia asked. Percy didn't answer, which meant yes.

"So you two know each other?" Zia asked and turned to Carter. He couldn't lie to her. That and his sister was about to kill him anyway, once they finish the book. So why not just spill all his secrets?

"Sorta." He finally said. "It'll explain in the book." He continued reading before anyone could ask more questions.

"Maybe I should introduce myself.

I'm Carter Kane—part-time high school freshman, part-time magician, full-time worrier about all the Egyptian gods and monsters"

"Woah, wait a minute! Stop the fat lady singing!" Nico called out. "What did you just say? Egyptian Gods?"

"Yes..." Carter hesitated. The air in the room seemed to sharpen, where moving might cause one to get cut.

"Read on Carter." Zia whispered to him. He could feel his sister's eyes on him. He glanced towards her and saw her nervous for once. He hated seeing her that way. So he read on.

"who are constantly trying to kill me.  
Okay, that last part is an exaggeration. Not all the gods want me dead. Just a lot of them"

"I know how you feel." Percy spoke for the first time in the reading.

"—but that kind of goes with the territory, since I'm a magician in the House of Life. We're like the police for Ancient Egyptian supernatural forces, making sure they don't cause too much havoc in the modern world."

All the demigods looked around confused to one another. The Magicians stayed quiet.

"So your not children of the gods?" Annabeth asked.

The magicians looked at her like she was crazy. The gods have kids? Who were mortals?

"Not that we know of..." Sadie answered. Annabeth and the others still looked confused.

"Anyway, on this particular day I was tracking down a rogue monster on Long Island. Our scryers had been sensing magical disturbances in the area for several weeks. Then the local news started reporting that a large creature had been sighted in the ponds and marshes near the Montauk Highway—a creature that was eating the wildlife and scaring the locals. One reporter even called it the Long Island Swamp Monster."

"That sounds like something off of Scooby-Doo." Walt stated. That caused a few giggles to appear and make the mood less tense.

"When mortals start raising the alarm, you know it's time to check things out."

"Yup." Thalia said, popping the 'p' on the end.

"Normally my sister, Sadie"

Percy looked crazily between the two. "You two are siblings?" He asked.

"Yes." Sadie answered.

"But you two look nothing alike." Nico stated. Thalia smacked him at the back of his head and glared at him dis approvingly. He glared back.

"We get that a lot. I'm grateful for it, knowing I don't look that bad." Some of the girls laughs as Carter glared at her.

"or some of our other initiates from Brooklyn House would've come with me. But they were all at the First Nome, in Egypt, for a weeklong training session on controlling cheese demons"

"Cheese demons?" Annabeth asked, holding back a laugh.

"Please, don't even bring that up." Sadie groaned, remembering the horrible week long session."I never heard so many annoying cheese jokes in my life."

"And talk about cutting the cheese." Walt waved his hand in front of his face.

"(yes, they're a real thing; believe me, you don't want to know)"

"You really don't." Sadie mumbled.

"I hitched our flying reed boat to Freak, my pet griffin,

Percy's jaw dropped "Oh up! wait a minute!-"

"You seem to do that a lot." Zia noted.

"You have a pet Griffin?!" Percy question, ignoring her comment. "Like the whole body of a lion and wings and head of an eagle?"

"Well not exactly," Carter rubbed the back of his neck. "It have a body built similar to a lion's but it's covered in feathers, has the head of a hawk, and wings like a hummingbird."

Percy's eyes widen and then he turn to pout to Annabeth. "I want a Griffin." He whined.

"You already have your own pegsi and a hellhound. I don't want to hear it." She scowled him like a child. All the teens in the room laughed.

"And we spent the morning buzzing around the South Shore looking for signs of trouble. If you're wondering why I didn't just ride on Freak's back, imagine two hummingbird-like wings beating faster and more powerfully than helicopter blades. Unless you want to get shredded, it's really better to ride in the boat."

"That would be ideal." Walt mumbled, but Sadie heard and snickered at his joke.

"Freak had a good nose for magic. After a couple of hours on patrol, he shrieked, "FREEEAAAK!" and banked hard to the left, circling over a green marshy inlet between two subdivisions."

"Roller-coaster." Thalia smiled.

"Well, I see why you named him Freak now, but that still seems like a mean name to the sweet thing." Zia commented.

"I tried changing his name but he doesn't like any of my other suggestions, he only likes Freak." Carter explains.

"What where some of your suggestions?"

"Bob, Paul, John, Joe, Joe Bob even."

Zia raised a brow. "Really?"

"What? I though they were good."

"Yeah, how could he ever turn down Joe Bob." Sadie rolled her eyes. Sarcasm was literally oozing out of her words.

"Down there?" I asked.  
Freak shivered and squawked, whipping his barbed tail nervously.  
I couldn't see much below us—just a brown river glittering in the hot summer air, winding through swamp grass and clumps of gnarled trees until it emptied into Moriches Bay. The area looked a bit like the Nile Delta back in Egypt, except here the wetlands were surrounded on both sides by residential neighborhoods with row after row of gray-roofed houses."

"Who would want to live around a swamp?" Nico asked.

"Swamp people?" Sadie guessed.

"The Long Island Swamp Monster?" Thalia giggled.

"Just to the north, a line of cars inched along the Montauk Highway—vacationers escaping "the crowds in the city to enjoy the crowds in the Hamptons.  
If there really was a carnivorous swamp monster below us, I wondered how long it would be before it developed a taste for humans. If that happened…well, it was surrounded by an all-you-can-eat buffet."

"I see the light now..." Nico awed as Thalia's request finally settle in to him. He got up and bow before her, kissing her feet.

"Okay," I told Freak. "Set me down by the riverbank."

As soon as I stepped out of the boat, Freak screeched and zoomed into the sky, the boat trailing behind him.

"Hey!" I yelled after him, but it was too late.

Freak is easily spooked. Flesh-eating monsters tend to scare him away. So do fireworks, clowns, and the smell of Sadie's weird British Ribena drink. (Can't blame him on that last one. Sadie grew up in London and developed some pretty strange tastes.)"

Sadie glared at Carter but saw Walt nodding in agreement. She raised a brow, challenging him, noting him at he saw her. Walt quickly shook his head no and Sadie smiled. She knew how to control her boyfriend very well.

"I would have to take care of this monster problem, and then whistle for Freak to pick me up once I was done.  
I opened my backpack and checked my supplies: some enchanted rope, my curved ivory wand, a lump of wax for making a magical shabti figurine, my calligraphy set, and a healing potion my friend Jaz had brewed for me a while back. (She knew that I got hurt a lot.)"

"Again, I know how you feel." Percy said and everyone nodded along in agreement.

"There was just one more thing I needed. I concentrated and reached into the Duat."

"What?" Annabeth asked. What the Hades was a Duat?

"A doowhat?" Percy asked.

"A Duat." Zia explained. "It's the spirit world for gods and magic. Magicians usually store stuff in there in case of emergencies." All the demigods were still confused. Zia signed and waved Carter to go on.

"Over the last few months, I'd gotten better at storing emergency provisions in the shadow realm—extra weapons, clean clothes, Fruit by the Foot, and chilled six-packs of root beer"

"Oh." Percy and Nico groan at the same time. "Root beer..."

"I haven't had root beer in years..." Percy smiled sadly as if he was having fond memories of the tooth-rotting beverage.

"I remember when root beer first can out..." Nico grinned.

"What?!" Sadie asked. Nico looked no more then, what, 15? Maybe 16? There's no way.

Thalia notice Sadie's concern and smacked Nico in the back of the head again. Sadie was starting to like that girl...

"—but sticking my hand into a magical dimension still felt weird, like pushing through layers of cold, heavy curtains. I closed my fingers around the hilt of my sword and pulled it out—a heavy khopesh with a blade curved like a question mark."

"I've never heard of that kind of weapon before." Annabeth mused. "May I see it sometime?"

"Um, sure." Carter said. He didn't think that would be smart if his world was to stay out of the others weird, different one. But he should be nice and let her at least have a look, just not touch."But later on, after the reading."

"Okay."

"Armed with my sword and wand, I was all set for a stroll through the swamp to look for a hungry monster. Oh, joy!"

"Sounds like fun." Walt mumbled. "I rather watch Scooby-Doo..."

"I waded into the water and immediately sank to my knees. The river bottom felt like congealed stew. With every step, my shoes made such rude noises—suck-plop, suck-plop"

This caused a roar if laughter to boom in the room as Carter turned a dark shade of red.

"—that I was glad my sister Sadie wasn't with me. She never would've stopped laughing."

"Like now." Walt snorted as he, Sadie, Percy, and Nico were still on the floor laughing.

"Even worse, making this much noise, I knew I wouldn't be able to sneak up on any monsters."

"You're just having a bad day, Carter, aren't you?" Zia asked

"Yup."

"Mosquitoes swarmed me. Suddenly I felt nervous and alone."

"That usually isn't a good sign." Percy stated.

"Could be worse, I told myself. I could be studying cheese demons."

"Couldn't be as bad as that." Sadie grumbled.

"But I couldn't quite convince myself. In the nearby subdivision, I heard kids shouting and laughing, probably playing some kind of game. I wondered what that would be like—being a normal kid, hanging out with my friends on a summer afternoon."

"It's sounds like you had a very sad childhood." Thalia somewhat questioned.

"Nah," Carter said. "Not really."

"The idea was so nice, I got distracted. I didn't notice the ripples in the water until fifty yards ahead of me something broke the surface—a line of leathery, blackish-green bumps."

Sadie started to shake her head, as Zia took Carter's hand. Neither girls wanted Carter hurt, they just had different ways of showing it.

"Instantly it submerged again, but I knew what I was dealing with now. I'd seen crocodiles before, and this was a freakishly big one."

"You dealt with crocodiles before?" Thalia asked.

"Bet he has one for a pet." Percy quietly pouted. Carter heard him and couldn't help but sheepishly shrug his shoulders.

Percy throw his arms in the air for surrender and yelled "I give up!" As Annabeth groaned "Oh Gods..."

{...}

Thanks for reading, please review. I do not own anything. Sorry, I know it's hard to reading what's the book and what's the characters but I'll fix it in the next chapter, thanks for reading anyway through.


	2. Chapter 2

The Reading, Part 2

Normal-The Book

Bold- The Story

SADIE** KANE WAS PRETTY SURE this was a going to take longer then she thought. Mainly because right now, Percy and Nico were arguing with her idiot brother and boy friend. Seriously, what was so wrong with Carter having a griffen for a pet? percy apparently had some pegsi- which means, if she was remembering correctly, was the white horse with wings that was Hercules' best friend and ride everywhere in that Disney Movie. **

**The thought did make Sadie giggle to herself a bit but it also scared her. These teens scared her. They defaintly weren't magicians, but they were still different like Safie and her friends were. They all had an aura of power around them, a very strong power that Sadie knew to watch out for. **

**But yet, they seemed just like them. Just a group of kids who were still kids. They just trying to live there lives to the fullest as they could just like Sadie and her friends. And for the same reason... They don't know when it all will just suddenly end for them... **

**After everything she had been through along with all the other kids at the twenty-first nome, she grew to value life even more and could tell that these strangers did too. **

**Sadie soon snapped out of her random, deep thoughts and saw the boys were still bickering. But no longer about Freak and the pegsi that was named 'Blackjack' but now about what was better, Mountain Dew or Root Beer. The blond girl rolled her blue eyes at the four morons, which she saw the other females do as they watch the boys. **

**Finally Sadie stood up and pulled the book out of Carter's hand. She glared at him and then Walt. They return to there seats, as well as Percy and Nico. Sadie looked for where they left off and began reading. **

"I remembered El Paso, the winter before last, when my sister and I had been attacked by the crocodile god Sobek. That wasn't a good memory.  
Sweat trickled down my neck.

**Sadie scowled at the memory herself. That really wasn't a good trip to go down on. Then anger boiled inside her veins. If that oversided reptile try to pull one trick on her brother...**

"Sobek," I murmured, "if that's you, messing with me again, I swear to Ra…"

**"Ra?" Nico question, looking confused. "Raw, as in, the noise monsters make?"**

**"No." Zia answered. "Ra. Just R-A."**

**"Didn't you say you were the host of him?" Thalia asked. Her steely blue eyes seemed to borred into her. Sadie wasn't worry though, she knew very well that Zia could take care of herself. ****But Sadie started to regret saying who they were the host of.**

**"Yeah." She finally said. "It will probably explain in the story." **

**Sadie looked at Walt, and he looked back. Then she looked at her brother, and knew that they all hoped that the book didn't. None of them wanted to explain anything to the others. It was too tricky. It was clear they were different and not from there world. Combining her and her friends' with there's... Sadie didn't want to know what would happen then.**

The croc god had promised to leave us alone now that we were tight with his boss, the sun god. Still...crocodiles get hungry. Then they tend to forget their promises.

**This caused the group to snicker a bit. Easy the tense atmosphere. **

No answer from the water. The ripples subsided. When it came to sensing monsters, my magic instincts weren't very sharp; but the water in front of me seemed much darker. That meant either it was deep, or something large was lurking under the surface.

**"That doesn't sound very safe." Walt stated. Sadie agreed witht the annoyingly handsome boy. **

I almost hoped it was Sobek. At least then I stood a chance of talking to him before he killed me. Sobek loved to boast. Unfortunately, it wasn't him.

The next microsecond, as the water erupted around me, I realized too late that I should've brought the entire Twenty-first Nome to help me. I registered glowing yellow eyes as big as my head, the glint of gold jewelry around a massive neck. Then monstrous jaws opened—ridges of crooked teeth, and an expanse of pink maw wide enough to gulp down a garbage truck.

And the creature swallowed me whole.

**Everyone's jaw was dropped. No one expected Carter to get eaten! Sadie almost choked. On air. **

**Zia was holding Carter's hand in a death grip now with both hands. She had a mixed expression on her face, like anger with worry and a little bit freaked out. Sadie couldn't help but feel the same way. **

**She would have thought tht her own flesh and blood brother would tell her that he got eaten by a giant gator, but apparently not!**

**"A gator ate you?" Annabeth asked. "And you lived?" **

**Carter looked incredibly uncomfortable. "Percy saved me. That's how we really met." He looked at Percy. "Thanks, by the way." **

**"No prob." He shot a friendly smile but then nervously snickered. "And sorry about what happens soon." **

**"Yeah, me too." Carter smiled back and then waved Sadie to read which she did. **

Imagine being shrink-wrapped upside down inside a gigantic slimy garbage bag with no air. Being in the monster's belly was like that, only hotter and smellier.

For a moment I was too stunned to do anything. I couldn't believe I was still alive. If the crocodile's mouth had been smaller, he might have snapped me in half.

**Sadie winced at the thought. She never say it out loud or abmit to herself or anyone else for that matter, but she really did care about her brother, and mostly perfer him alive. **

**Just as Sadie was about to read again, she realized Carter was looking at her with a smirk. Oh no... He saw her. He pointed a coffee color skinned finger at her and open his mouth... Crap.**

**"YOU CARE!" **

**"No I do not! How dare you insult me that way, Carter Kane!" Sadie defended herself. **

**"Yes, you do!" **

**"No, I don't !" **

**YES, YOU DO!" **

**"NO, I DON'T!" **

**Just then, the two siblings stood up in one of there famous yelling fits. No one could make out to what they were saying, they just knew they had very loud vocal chords. During it, Sadie just slipped back into her thick British accent when you could only make out some words she said even though she was speaking the same language. Finally, Zia got Carter, who was laughing like a maniac and smiling at his sister's red face. Walt got Sadie to stop screaming like a crazy British girl and settled her down in the chair, steam might as well have been pouring out of her ears. **

**The demigods were confused out of there mind of what they just witness. It was extremely funny as well as kinda creepy and scarey. Sadie soon calmed down enough to read, still glaring at her brother as he smiled at her sweetly. **

As it was, he had gulped me down in a single Carter-size serving, so I could look forward to being slowly digested.

Lucky, right?

**"Totally," Walt said sarcastically. "I'm so jealous."**

The monster started thrashing around, which made it hard to think. I held my breath, knowing that it might be my last. I still had my sword and wand, but I couldn't use them with my arms pinned to my side. I couldn't reach any of the stuff in my bag.

Which left only one answer: a word of power.

**All the magicians stopped breathing. There hearts came to a halt. This was bad. Carter was like the small flame on a match to set off the atomic bomb, when he try to do a word of power... Ra help them...**

If I could think of the right hieroglyphic symbol and speak it aloud, I could summon some industrial strength, wrath-of-the-gods-type magic to bust my way out of this reptile.

In theory: a great solution.  
In practice: I'm not so good at words of power

**"Truer words have never been spoken." Sadie commented. **

even in the best of situations. Suffocating inside a dark, smelly reptile gullet wasn't helping me focus.

You can do this, I told myself.  
After all the dangerous adventures I'd had, I couldn't die like this. Sadie would be devastated.

**"Because she cares." Carter Smirked quietly. **

**"Please, Carter." Zia asked as sweet as she could. She was a little nervous since Sadie was now being held back by Walt so she wouldn't kill her brother. "I prefer you alive." **

Then, once she got over her grief, she'd track down my soul in the Egyptian afterlife and tease me mercilessly for how stupid I'd been."My lungs burned. I was blacking out. I picked a word of power, summoned all my concentration, and prepared to speak.

Suddenly the monster lurched upward. He roared, which sounded really weird from the inside, and its throat contracted around me like I was being squeezed from a toothpaste tube. I shot out of the creature's mouth and tumbled into the marsh grass.

**"Here I come!" Percy called. Annabeth rolled her eyes but smiled.**

Somehow I got to my feet. I staggered around, half blind, gasping, and covered with crocodile goo, which smelled like a scummy fish tank.

The surface of the river churned with bubbles. The crocodile was gone, but standing in the marsh about twenty feet away was a teenage guy in jeans and a faded orange T-shirt that said CAMP something. I "couldn't read the rest. He looked a little older than me—maybe seventeen—with tousled black hair and sea-green eyes. What really caught my attention was his sword—a straight double-edged blade glowing with faint bronze light.

**"Hero Percy Jackson has just saved you." Thalia rolled her eyes. "You must be so honored." **

**The magicians chunckled at the conment as Percy blushed and glared at her, which she responded to by glaring straight back.**

I'm not sure which of us was more surprised.

**"Well, normally you don't get a goo covered kid with every monster you kill." Annabeth stated. **

**"You make it sound like Happy Meal." Nico stared at her a little surprised, then he spoke in a different voice, trying to sound like Percy. "Yes, I believe that you gave me the wrong toy. I simply demanded for the killing action gator but instead you gave me the edible Carter." Everyone laughed. Thalia shooked he read at the boy. Only Nico would relate this, of all things, to food. Espically McDonald's. **

For a second, Camper Boy just stared at me. He noted my khopesh and wand, and I got the feeling he actually saw these things as they were. Normal mortals have trouble seeing magic. Their brains can't interpret it, so they might look at my sword, for instance, and see a baseball bat or a walking stick.

**"Why would a freshman in high school need a walking stick? Carter I know you're getting older but still." Walt poked at him.**

But this kid…he was different. I figured he must be a magician. The only problem was, I'd met most of the magicians in the North American nomes, and I'd never seen this guy before. I'd also never seen a sword like that. Everything about him seemed…un-Egyptian.

**_Egyptian_? Annabeth thought to herself. She never really study the gods of Egyptian mythology but she wanted to now. She tried to remember the names the others said earlier. _Iris? That was one of them right? Ra. Horus? Anubis? _**

"The crocodile," I said, trying to keep my voice calm and even. "Where did it go?"

Camper Boy frowned. "You're welcome."

"What?"

"I stuck that croc in the rump." He mimicked the action with his sword. "That's why it vomited you up. So, you're welcome. What were you doing in there?"

**"You sound a little rude there, Perc." Nico stated. **

**"Yeah, sorry about that." He apologized to Carter. Carter smiled and told him it was okay.**

I'll admit I wasn't in the best mood. I smelled. I hurt. And, yeah, I was a little embarrassed: the mighty Carter Kane, head of Brooklyn House, had been disgorged from a croc's mouth like a giant hairball.

**"Sounds like you're having a bad day Carter." Zia said. **

**"Yeah." Carter replied. He wonder if he said she could make it better if she kissed him but he doubted it would a actually work. Oh well, a man can dream can't he?**

"I was resting," I snapped.

**"Sassy!" Thalia snapped her fingers in a dramatic way. **

"What do you think I was doing? Now, who are you, and why are you fighting my monster?"

"Your monster?" The guy trudged toward me through the water. He didn't seem to have any trouble with the mud. "Look, man, I don't know who you are, but that crocodile has been terrorizing Long Island for weeks. I take that kind of personal, as this is my home turf. A few days ago, it ate one of our pegasi."

A jolt went up my spine like I'd backed into an electric fence. "Did you say pegasi?"

**"Way to drop the 'p' bomb, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth poked him in the ribs. **

He waved the question aside. "Is it your monster or not?"

"I don't own it!" I growled. "I'm trying to stop it! Now, where—"

"The croc headed that way." He pointed his sword toward the south. "I would already be chasing it, but you surprised me."

**"You make it sound like his a disgrace." Walt said. **

**"He is." Sadie mumbled to only where he heard. He turn to her and winked at her. Sadie tried to control her blush.**

He sized me up, which was disconcerting since he was half a foot taller. I still couldn't read his T-shirt except for the word CAMP. Around his neck hung a leather strap with some colorful clay beads, like a kid's arts and crafts project. He wasn't carrying a magician's pack or a wand. Maybe he kept them in the Duat? Or maybe he was just a delusional mortal who'd accidentally found a magic sword and thought he was a superhero. Ancient relics can really mess with your mind.

Finally he shook his head. "I give up. Son of Ares? You've got to be a half-blood, but what happened to your sword? It's all bent."  
"It's a khopesh." My shock was rapidly turning to anger. "It's supposed to be curved."

**"More sass!" Thalia snapped again.**

But I wasn't thinking about the sword.

Camper Boy had just called me a half-blood? Maybe I hadn't heard him right. Maybe he meant something else. But my dad was African American. My mom was white. Half-blood wasn't a word I liked.

**"Oh..." Percy said softly. "I'm so sorry, man. I didn't know. I didn't mean it that way." **

**"It's okay." Carter smiled. **

"Just get out of here," I said, gritting my teeth. "I've got a crocodile to catch."

"Dude, I have a crocodile to catch," he insisted. "Last time you tried, it ate you. Remember?"

**"You two are so mean and rude to each other." Sadie stated. **

**"Yeah, are both of you that grumpy?" Annabeth asked. ****Both boys blushed and didn't answer. **

My fingers tightened around my sword hilt. "I had everything under control. I was about to summon a fist—"  
For what happened next, I take full responsibility.

**"Oh no." Sadie groaned. "Here it comes." She already figured what Carter's mistake was. She already knew the results are no where near good.**

I didn't mean it. Honestly. But I was angry. And as I may have mentioned, I'm not always good at channeling words of power. While I was in the crocodile's belly, I'd been preparing to summon the Fist of Horus, a giant glowing blue hand that can pulverize doors, walls, and pretty much anything else that gets in your way. My plan had been to punch my way out of the monster. Gross, yes; but hopefully effective.

I guess that spell was still in my head, ready to be triggered like a loaded gun. Facing Camper Boy, I was furious, not to mention dazed and confused; so when I meant to say the English word fist, it came out in Ancient Egyptian instead: khefa.  
Such a simple hieroglyph: A picture of a fist.

You wouldn't think it could cause so much trouble.

As soon as I spoke the word, the symbol blazed in the air between us. A giant fist the size of a dishwasher shimmered into existence and slammed Camper Boy into the next county.

**"What!?" The other 3 demigods cried. Annabeth turn to Percy, making sure he was okay. Thalia stared with her mouth opened and Nico was looking for the right words to speak. **

**"Okay." He finally spat out. "So, you're telling us that you guys can just think of a Egyptian word and it's matching syllable on some one and it pops out of thin air and attacks them?" **

**"Yeah, pretTy much." Sadie nodded. **

**"Mater Dei..." Nico gasped and Sadie couldn't help bit wonder if he just spoke Latin. **

I mean I literally punched him out of his shoes. He rocketed from the river with a loud suck-plop!

**Everyone burst out laughing at the mental image they all had of Percy. **

**"I like this kid." Thalia announced. She pointed to him. "You have to teach me how to do that." **

And the last thing I saw was his bare feet achieving escape velocity as he flew backward and disappeared from sight.

**More laugher broke out. **

No, I didn't feel good about it. Well…maybe a tiny bit good. But I also felt mortified. Even if this guy was a jerk, magicians weren't supposed to go around sucker-punching kids into orbit with the Fist of Horus.

"Oh, great." I hit myself on the forehead.

I started to wade across the marsh, worried that I'd actually killed the guy. "Man, I'm sorry!" I yelled, hoping he could hear me. "Are you—?"

The wave came out of nowhere.

**"Yeah, sorry about that." Percy rubbed the back of his head. "I shouldn't have done that." **

**"It's okay," Carter said. "Sorry about starting it all. It really was an accident." **

**"Nah, Don't worry about." Percy laughed. "I get harder blows from Annabeth here on a daily basic." **

**They turn to the blond who just shrugged. "Sad but true." **

A twenty-foot wall of water slammed into me and pushed me back into the river. I came up spluttering, a horrible taste like fish food in my mouth. I blinked the gunk out of my eyes just in the time to see Camper Boy leaping toward me ninja-style, his sword raised.

I lifted my khopesh to deflect the blow. I just managed to keep my head from being cleaved in half, but Camper Boy was strong and quick. As I reeled backward, he struck again and again. Each time, I was able to parry; but I could tell I was outmatched. His blade was lighter and quicker, and—yes, I'll admit it—he was a better swordsman.

I wanted to explain that I'd made a mistake. I wasn't really his enemy. But I needed all my concentration just to keep from getting sliced down the middle.

**All the magicians glanced at Percy with interest, impressed with his strategy and strength. He was defiantly a thread to keep an eye on. **

Camper Boy, however, had no trouble talking.

"Now I get it," he said, swinging at my head. "You're some kind of monster."

**"Carter a monster?" Nico stared at Percy strangely. Really now?**

**"What else was I suppose to think of him?" **

**"Anything else but a monster." **

CLANG! I intercepted the strike and staggered back.

"I'm not a monster," I managed.

To beat this guy, I'd have to use more than just a sword. The problem was, I didn't want to hurt him. Despite the fact that he was trying to chop me into a Kane-flavored barbecue sandwich, I still felt bad for starting the fight.

He swung again, and I had no choice. I used my wand this time, catching his blade in the crook of ivory and channeling a burst of magic straight up his arm. The air between us flashed and crackled. Camper Boy stumbled back. Blue sparks of sorcery popped around him, as if my spell didn't know quite what to do with him. Who was this guy?

**"I'm Percy Jackson, of course." He smiled widely. **

"You said the crocodile was yours." Camper Boy scowled, anger blazing in his green eyes. "You lost your pet, I suppose. Maybe you're a spirit from the Underworld, come back through the Doors of Death?"

**"I'm guessing that there Doors of Death is like out Land of Demons?" Zia whispered to Carter who nodded with the same thought in mind.**

Before I could even process that question, he thrust out his free hand. The river reversed course and swept me off my feet.

I managed to get up, but I was getting really tired of drinking swamp water. Meanwhile Camper Boy charged again, his sword raised for the kill. In desperation, I dropped my wand. I thrust my hand into my backpack, and my fingers closed around the piece of rope.

I threw it and yelled the command word "TAS!"—Bind!—just as Camper Boy's bronze blade cut into my wrist.

**Everyone silent at this point. The magicians were worry about Carter and his well being, they didn't want him hurt. But the demigods all stayed still, afriad to move. This Carter boy was more of a thread then they thought. Normally anyone who sword fought with Percy didn't lost very long, way shorter then the time Carter lasted. Not only did he do that, but he used some kind of... _Magic_ to punch him with a gaint fist and now used some rope to tie him up with only a lift of his arm. Now it was there time to ask, _Who was this guy?_**

My whole arm erupted in agony. My vision tunneled. Yellow spots danced before my eyes. I dropped my sword and clutched my wrist, gasping for breath, everything for forgotten except the excruciating pain.

In the back of my mind, I knew Camper Boy could kill me easily. For some reason he didn't. A wave of nausea made me double over.  
I forced myself to look at the wound. There was a lot of blood, but I remembered something Jaz had told me once in the infirmary at Brooklyn House: cuts usually looked a lot worse than they were. I hoped that was true. I fished a piece of papyrus out of my pack and pressed it against the wound as a makeshift bandage.

The pain was still horrible, but the nausea became more manageable. My thoughts started to clear, and I wondered why I hadn't been skewered yet.

Camper Boy was sitting nearby in waist-deep water, looking dejected. My magic rope had wrapped around his sword arm, then lashed his hand to the side of his head. Unable to let go of his sword, he looked like he had a single reindeer antler sprouting next to his ear.

**All the demigods were nervous again. But it was when Nico pressed a believable laugh were Annabeth and Thalia joined along. Pretending the thought was funny but it didn't get passed any Carter and Zia, who was rubbing Carter's now cut healed wrist like he was still wounded. **

He tugged at the rope with his free hand, but of course he couldn't make any progress.

Finally he just sighed and glared at me. "I'm really starting to hate you."

**"That's was kinda mean Percy." Annabeth scowled. Percy smiled sheepish and shrugged an apology to Carter. He smiled. **

"Hate me?" I protested. "I'm gushing blood here! And you started all this by calling me a half-blood!"

"Oh, please." Camper Boy rose unsteadily, his sword antenna making him top-heavy. "You can't be mortal. If you were, my sword would've passed right through you. If you're not a spirit or a monster, you've got to be a half-blood. A rogue demigod from Kronos's army, I'd guess."

Most of what this guy said, I didn't understand. But one thing sank in."So when you said 'half-blood'…"

He stared at me like I was an idiot. "I meant demigod. Yeah. What did you think I meant?"

**"So this all started over a misunderstanding and a gator?" Sadie asked. Everyone soon realized it was true, and began to get afriad at the thought of all the magicians and demigods fighting over somethibg even bigger...**

I tried to process that. I'd heard the term demigod before, but it wasn't an Egyptian concept. Maybe this guy was sensing that I was bound to Horus, that I could channel the god's power…but why did he describe everything so strangely?

"What are you?" I demanded. "Part combat magician, part water elementalist? What nome are you with?"

The kid laughed bitterly. "Dude, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't hang out with gnomes. Satyrs, sometimes. Even Cyclopes. But not gnomes."

**"My gods, Percy." Everyone was really laughing now.**

The blood loss must have been making me dizzy. His words bounced around in my head like lottery balls: Cyclopes, satyrs, demigods, Kronos. Earlier he'd mentioned Ares. That was a Greek god, not Egyptia.

I felt like the Duat was opening underneath me, threatening to pull me into the depths. Greek…not Egyptian.

**All the magicians felt that way now.**

An idea started forming in my mind. I didn't like it. In fact, it scared the holy Horus out of me.

**That described everyone's in the room feelings. **

Despite all the swamp water I'd swallowed, my throat felt dry.

"Look," I said, "I'm sorry about hitting you with that fist spell. It was an accident. But the thing I don't understand…it should have killed you. It didn't. That doesn't make sense."

"Don't sound so disappointed," he muttered. "But while we're on the subject, you should be dead too. Not many people can fight me that well. And my sword should have vaporized your crocodile."

"For the last time, it's not my crocodile."

"Okay, whatever." Camper Boy looked dubious. "The point is, I stuck that crocodile pretty good, but I just made it angry. Celestial bronze should've turned it to dust."

"Celestial bronze?"

Our conversation was cut short by a scream from the nearby subdivision—the terrified voice of a kid.

My heart did a slow roll. I really was an idiot.

**"At least you admit it." Sadie quietly mumbled. Not even Walt hear her this time.**

I'd forgotten why we were here.

I locked eyes with Camper Boy. "We've got to stop the crocodile."

"Truce," he suggested.

"Yeah," I said. "We can continue killing each other after the crocodile is taken care of."

"Deal. Now, could you please untie my sword hand from my head? I feel like a freaking unicorn."


	3. Chapter 3

The Reading, Part 3

I forgot to state it earlier in chapter 2 so this counts for both. I own nothing, all credit goes to Rick Riordan. Thank you to all who reviewed and followed and fav this story. Im happy to know I'm doing a good job:). Anyway, on with the story...

* * *

**ZIA RASHID****THOUGHT THINGS WERE going well since no one was trying to kill each other. But she was still slightly hesitant, since the she knew she was never suppose to meet the different group of teenagers in front of her. She remember hearing some bits and pieces of another world when she over heard of one of the adults speak about Manhattan, which was usually in hushed tones. Zia just figured that magicians didn't like Manhattan and the whole different world thing was really what they meant... Now she wondered if they were afriad of it for an entirely different reason.**

**She had to get back home to talk about this with Carter and Sadie and Amos. She wasn't sure if she could spread and the word about it... Maybe they just shouldn't speak of any of this ****again when it's all over. ****But right now, Zia was merely laughing along with everyone else as the last line was said. Zia didn't hear it all but she got the main idea-Percy feeling like a unicorn because Carter tied his hand that he was holding his word with to his head.**

**"Annabeth," Thalia asked. "Why are you dating him again?" **

**"I can't remember to be honest." Annabeth jokes. **

**"It's because I'm adorable." Percy smiles at thme in an innocent way. **

**Thalia rolls her eletric blue eyes that almost shocked Zia earlier, when she asked her about being the host of Ra. "More like idiotic." **

**"Hey, all I know is that I have the best girlfriend in the world." Percy bragged and Zia cut her eyes to Carter, warnily. **

**You see, Carter is very... Over proctective for Zia. Of course, it's completely obvious that she can take care of herself in any situation that she might face. But he still cared about her well being and is very...Offendisive or... Over dramatic when people make statements like Percy's just then. She remembers this one time when, back at the 21th nome about a year ago, some water elementist guy named Jaxon started bragging about how great his girlfriend from the 18th nome was. Zia didn't really care or listen to him as she sat with Carter, Jazz, and Felix, reading her book. But then he had the comment, very loudly, "At least my Helena's choosen path isn't to be a freak that controls fire." **

**Zia was about to say something smart right back at him till Carter shot straight to him feet, wimped out his wand, and called out the Egyptian word "Se-kebeb". Before she could even blink, much less think of what he just said, Zia stared wide eyed at a frozen 16 year old boy. **

**But before Carter could even see her eyes and make contect, Carter raised a brow and open his mouth. Oh on. **

**"What makes you so sure of that? Because I'm pretty sure Zia is the best there is." Carter challenged. **

**Percy eye-balled him with pride and curiosity, like he was saying _"You want to go boy? You want to play this game? Bring it."_ **

**Just then, both boys stood up, glaring at each other. Zia didn't exactly know what they were doing but she just hoped they didn't kill each other in the end of it or none of them were going home. **

**"My girlfriend has blonde hair and gray eyes!"**

**"My girlfriend has black hair and amber eyes!"**

**"My girlfriend can beat your girlfriend in a battle!"**

**"My girlfriend can beat your girlfriend in a war!"**

**"My girlfriend looks beautiful while covered in dirty and sweat!"**

**"My girlfriend looks gorgeous when she threadens to kill me!"**

**"My girlfriend can turn invisible!"**

**"My girlfriend can control fire!" Carter then turn to her. "Show them Zia." She obeyed, like always and brought out her hand and cast a flame inside her palm. The demigods flinched away from in surprise. **

**"Holy Crap, it's a female, Egyptian Leo Valdez!" Nico cried. ****Zia put out the flame and then turn to her friends. She didn't understand these kids.**

**Thalia hit Nico's arm. "Nothing. Just one of our other friends." **

**"Oh okay." Carter nodded then glared at Percy. They were about to continue there brawl till Walt stood up and place his arms around there shoulders. "Boys, boys. I'm sorry to inform you of this but... Well, my girlfriend British, beautiful, and had a goddess for a cat. I think we all know who the winner is. Thanks for playing though." He patted them on the back and then turn to the only other boy in the room. "Unless Nico wants to speak..." **

**At first the boy raised a brow of confusion and so did Thalia till it dawn apon them both. They turn to eachother, looking disgusted. "We are not dating. Never." They said together. **

**Percy was on the floor laughing like mad at this point and Annabeth was giggling uncontrolably. Zia turn to Sadie and they both looked surprised, execpt Sadie was blushing. **

**"I'm a hunter of Artimes! I traded my live life for immortality! Beside, I would never date that thing!"**

**"That and I don't like Thalia! She constantly hits me every time I breath wrong!" Nico cried but Zia had a slight feeling that he was holding something back from all of them. **

**Percy was still laughing and freaking everyone out. Sadie through the book at the back of Walt's head that landed next to Zia's feet. "Great job, Walt. You broke Percy." He just flashed her a smile that she thought probably belong to Abunis. sadie blushed more. **

**Zia pulled Carter back next to her as she opened the book so they could began reading again. **

I won't say we trusted each other, but at least now we had a common cause. He summoned his shoes out of the river—I had no idea how—and put them on. Then he helped me bind my hand with a strip of linen and waited while I swigged down half of my healing potion.

After that, I felt good enough to race after him toward the sound of the screaming.

**"That's sounds like a lovely bonding activity." Nico snickered.**

I thought I was in pretty good shape—what with combat magic practice, hauling heavy artifacts, and playing basketball with Khufu and his baboon friends (baboons don't mess around when it comes to hoops).

**"Oh! Now you have monkeys th-" Zia cut him off before he could start ranting about Carter and his pets.**

Nevertheless, I had to struggle to keep up with Camper Boy.  
Which reminded me, I was getting tired of calling him that.

"What's your name?" I asked, wheezing as I ran behind him.

He gave me a cautious glance. "I'm not sure I should tell you. Names can be dangerous."

He was right, of course. Names held power. A while back, my sister Sadie had learned my ren, my secret name, and it still caused me all sorts of anxiety. Even with someone's common name, a skilled magician could work all kinds of mischief.

"Fair enough," I said. "I'll go first. I'm Carter."

I guess he believed me. The lines around his eyes relaxed a bit.  
"Percy," he offered.

That struck me as an unusual name—British, maybe, though the kid spoke and acted very much like an American.

**"Percy means 'pierces in the valley'." Annabeth stated. All the demigods laughed, thinking of Mnt. Helen.**

We jumped a rotten log and finally made it out of the marsh. We'd started climbing a grassy slope toward the nearest houses when I realized more than one voice was screaming up there now. Not a good sign.

"Just to warn you," I told Percy, "you can't kill the monster."

"Watch me," Percy grumbled.

"No, I mean it's immortal."

"I've heard that before. I've vaporized plenty of immortals and sent them back to Tartarus."

Tartarus? I thought.

**All the magicians looked at each other with confused looks. Wad that there Land of Demands or something?**

Talking to Percy was giving me a serious headache. It reminded me of the time my dad took me to Scotland for one of his Egyptology lectures. I'd tried to talk with the locals and I knew they were speaking English, but every other sentence seemed to slip into an alternate language—different words, different pronunciations—and I'd wonder what the heck they were saying. Percy was like that. He and I almost spoke the same language—magic, monsters, et cetera. But his vocabulary was completely wrong.

**"I was thinking the exact same thing!" Percy called out. **

"No," I tried again, halfway up the hill. "This monster is a petsuchos—a son of Sobek."

"Who's Sobek?" he asked.

"The lord of crocodiles. Egyptian god."

That stopped him in his tracks. He stared at me, and I could swear the air between us turned electric. A voice, very deep in my mind, said: Shut up. Don't tell him any more.

**The air in the room seemed to get really quiet. The demigods were looking at the magicians and the magicians were starring back at them. Everyone knew why things got so tense with the words "Egyptian God", no one was going to say it. Zia soon continued a few seconds later but they felt like ages. **

Percy glanced at the khopesh I'd retrieved from the river, then the wand in my belt. "Where are you from? Honestly."

"Originally?" I asked. "Los Angeles. Now I live in Brooklyn."

**All the demigods knew what Percy was thinking with that answer. Romans.**

That didn't seem to make him feel any better. "So this monster, this pet-suck-o or whatever—"

"Petsuchos," I said. "It's a Greek word, but the monster is Egyptian. It was like the mascot of Sobek's temple, worshipped as a living god."

Percy grunted. "You sound like Annabeth."

**Annabeth smiled at that a bit. **

"Who?"

"Nothing. Just "skip the history lesson. How do we kill it?"

"I told you—"

From above came another scream, followed by a loud CRUNCH, like the sound made by a metal compactor. We sprinted to the top of the hill, then hopped the fence of somebody's backyard and ran into a residential cul-de-sac.

**"Thats a fun word to say. Cul-de-sac. Cuuul-deeeee-saaaac." Percy said and the group of teens snickered at his goofiness. Annabeth shakes her head.**

Except for the giant crocodile in the middle of the street, the neighborhood could have been Anywhere, USA. Ringing the cul-de-sac

**"Don't." Annabeth points her finger at him. Percy smiles.**

were half a dozen single-story homes with well-kept front lawns, economy cars in the driveways, mailboxes at the curb, flags hanging above the front porches.

Unfortunately, the all-American scene was kind of ruined by the monster, who was busily eating a green Prius hatchback with a bumper sticker that read MY POODLE IS SMARTER THAN YOUR HONOR STUDENT. Maybe the petsuchos thought the Toyota was another crocodile, and he was asserting his dominance. Maybe he just didn't like poodles and/or honor students.

**"Carter, I swear, you're the only one who would have these kinds of thoughts while preparing to fight a monster." Sadie said. Zia couldn't help but agree with her.**

Whatever the case, on dry land the crocodile looked even scarier than he had in the water. He was about forty feet long, as tall as a delivery truck, with a tail so massive and powerful, it overturned cars every time it swished. His skin glistened blackish green and gushed water that pooled around his feet. I remembered Sobek once telling me that his divine sweat created the rivers of the world. Yuck. I guessed this monster had the same holy perspiration. Double yuck.

**Everyone looked disgusted. That was nasty. **

The creature's eyes glowed with a sickly yellow light. His jagged teeth gleamed white. But the weirdest thing about him was his bling. Around his neck hung an elaborate collar of gold chains and enough precious stones to buy a private island.

**"Please don't tell me the gator is a wannabe gangster." Thalia wines which caused a few snickers. **

The necklace was how I had realized that the monster was a petsuchos, back at the marsh. I'd read that the sacred animal of Sobek wore something just like it back in Egypt, though what the monster was doing in a Long Island subdivision, I had no idea.

As Percy and I took in the scene, the crocodile clamped down and bit the green Prius in half, spraying glass and metal and pieces of air bag across the lawns.

As soon as he dropped the wreckage, half a dozen kids appeared from nowhere—apparently they'd been hiding behind some of the other cars—and charged the monster, screaming at the top of their lungs.

**Both the magicians and demigods looked surprised by this, but also impressed.**

I couldn't believe it. They were just elementary-age kids, armed with nothing but water balloons and Super Soakers. I guessed that they were on summer break and had been cooling off with a water fight when the monster interrupted them.  
There were no adults in sight. Maybe they were all at work. Maybe they were inside, passed out from fright.

**"Oh, those weak minded mortals." Nico joked.**

The kids looked angry rather than scared. They ran around the crocodile, lobbing water balloons that splashed harmlessly against the monster's hide.

Useless and stupid? Yes. But I couldn't help admiring their bravery. They were trying their best to face down a monster that had invaded their neighborhood.

Maybe they saw the crocodile for what it was. Maybe their mortal brains made them think it was an escaped elephant from the zoo, or a crazed FedEx delivery driver with a death wish.

Whatever they saw, they were in danger.

My throat closed up. I thought about my initiates back at Brooklyn House, who were no older than these kids, and my protective "big brother" instincts kicked in.

**"What 'Big Brother Instincts'? Every time I'm in trouble, you don't seem to really care." Sadie stated. **

**"Okay, first of all, I've always cared if you were in trouble." Carter pointed out. "I just don't really worry about it, unless its a extremely mayor, because I know you'll smack someone faster then I can even blink." **

**Sadie then place a hand over her heart and looked near tears but was smiling. And the most shocking part was that she wasn't acting, which caused for Walt and Zia to look at each other with surprise. **

**"You really mean that?" Sadie asked. Carter nodded with a soft grin. **

**"That's the sweetest thing you ever said to me." Sadie looked so happy that it made Zia pitched herself. She began to think this was dream. This couldn't be real. **

**All the demigod awed, even Percy and Nico, and then Thalia snapped out of it and scowled. "Why doesn't Jason do anything like that with me?" They all laughed. **

**"So you don't freak out when Sadie is in trouble but when some idiot trys to act smart towards me, you freeze the boy?" Zia asks in a low voice where Carter can heard and his the only one. **

**He looks back at her and smiles sweetly with a raised brow. "If I don't act first, you'll burn down the whole place." **

**"Touché." She winks and begans reading again. **

I charged into the street, yelling, "Get away from it! Run!"

Then I threw my wand straight at the crocodile's head. "Sa-mir!"

The wand hit the croc on the snout, and blue light rippled across his body. All over the monster's hide, the hieroglyph for pain flickered: a picture if a cane, a Egyptian cross, a hawk, a bird with a circle over it.

Everywhere it appeared, the croc's skin smoked and sparked, causing the monster to writhe and bellow in annoyance.

**"Looks like we're cookin' some croc burgers tonight!" Nico said in a 'hick' voice.**

The kids scattered, hiding behind ruined cars and mailboxes. The petsuchos turned his glowing yellow eyes on me.

At my side, Percy whistled under his breath. "Well, you got his attention."

"Yeah."

"You sure we can't kill him?" he asked.

"Yeah."

The crocodile seemed to be following our conversation. His yellow eyes flicked back and forth between us, as if deciding which of us to eat first.

"Even if you could destroy his body," I said, "he would just reappear somewhere nearby. That necklace? It's enchanted with the power of Sobek. To beat the monster, we have to get that necklace off. Then the petsuchos should shrink back into a regular crocodile."

"I hate the word should," Percy muttered. "Fine. I'll get the necklace. You keep him occupied."

"Why do I get to keep him occupied?"

"Because you're more annoying," Percy said. "Just try not to get eaten again."

**"And they said I'm the mean one." Thalia muttered.**

"ROARR!" the monster bellowed, his breath like a seafood restaurant's Dumpster.

I was about to argue that Percy was plenty annoying, but I didn't get the chance. The petsuchos charged, and my new comrade-in-arms sprinted to one side, leaving me right in the path of destruction.

First random thought: Getting eaten twice in one day would be very embarrassing.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Percy dashing toward the monster's right flank. I heard the mortal kids come out from their hiding places, yelling and throwing more water balloons like they were trying to protect me.

**"Yeah! Go little kids!" Nico cheered.**

The petsuchos lumbered toward me, his jaws opening to snap me up.  
And I got angry.

I'd faced the worst Egyptian gods. I'd plunged into the Duat and trekked across the Land of Demons. I'd stood at the very shores of Chaos. I was not going to back down to an overgrown gator.

**"Carter's Sass has reached an all time high!" Thalia snapped her fingers.**

The air crackled with power as my combat avatar formed around me—a glowing blue exoskeleton in the shape of Horus.

It lifted me off the ground until I was suspended in the middle of a twenty-foot-tall, hawk-headed warrior. I stepped forward, bracing myself, and the avatar mimicked my stance.

**"What!?" Annabeth, Thalia and Nico all cried in confusion, wondering if they just heard Zia right. What the hades was going on?!**

**The magicians just stayed quieted and Zia read on.**

"Percy yelled, "Holy Hera! What the—?!"

**"I was just surprise as y'all. A warning would have been useful, but oh well." Percy commented. **

The crocodile slammed into me.  
He nearly toppled me. His jaws closed around my avatar's free arm, but I slashed the hawk warrior's glowing blue sword at the crocodile's neck.

**"Carter:The Hawk Man vs. The Over Grown Gator: The Son of Sobek! Let's get ready to rumble!" Nico announces like a ring master in a boxing match. **

Maybe the petsuchos couldn't be killed. I was at least hoping to cut through the necklace that was the source of his power.

**"That makes sence. When you take a wannabe gangster's chain away all you have is an idiot with his pants sagging." Thalia said.**

Unfortunately, my swing went wide. I hit the monster's shoulder, cleaving his hide. Instead of blood, he spilled sand, which is pretty typical for Egyptian monsters. I would have enjoyed seeing him disintegrate completely, but no such luck. As soon as I yanked my blade free, the wound started closing and the sand slowed to a trickle. The crocodile whipped his head from side to side, pulling me off my feet and shaking me by the arm like a dog with a chew toy.

When he let me go, I sailed straight into the nearest house and smashed through the roof, leaving a hawk-warrior-shaped crater in someone's living room. I really hoped I hadn't just flattened some defenseless mortal in the middle of watching Dr. Phil.

**Everyone was dying of laugher at this point. Nico and Walt were on the floor crying. **

**"Carter!" Walt yelled, acting like he was mad. "How could you interpret Dr. Phil!?" **

My vision cleared, and I saw two things that irritated me. First the crocodile was charging me again. Second, my new friend Percy was just standing in the middle of the street, staring at me in shock. Apparently my combat avatar had startled him so much, he'd forgotten his part of the plan.

**"Way to go, Percy." Annabeth patted him on the back.**

"What the creeping crud is that?" he demanded. "You're inside a giant glowing chicken-man!"

**"Now, if remembering right, you didn't say creeping crud." Carter teased. **

**"Percy!" Annabeth smacked him in the back of the head. **

**Percy glared at the Kane boy. Carter just smirked. "My girlfriend lets me swear." **

"Hawk!" I yelled.

**"Gods, Carter, your sass." Thalia snapped.**

I decided that if I survived this day, I would have to make sure this guy never met Sadie. They'd probably take turns insulting me for the rest of eternity.

**"Oh please," Sadie flipped back her hair in a dramatic way, like a preppy girl would do, and spoke in a snouty tone. "I can insult you all by myself, thank you very much."**

"A little help here?"

Percy unfroze and ran toward the croc. As the monster closed in on me, I kicked him in the snout, which made him sneeze and shake his head long enough for me to extricate myself from the ruined house.

Percy jumped on the creature's tail and ran up his spine. The monster thrashed around, his hide shedding water all over the place; but somehow Percy managed to keep his footing. The guy must have practiced gymnastics or something.  
Meanwhile, the mortal kids had found some better ammunition—rocks, scrap metal from the wrecked cars, even a few tire irons—and were hurling the stuff at the monster. I didn't want the crocodile turning his attention toward them.

"HEY!" I swung my khopesh at the croc's face—a good solid strike that should've taken off his lower jaw. Instead, he somehow snapped at the blade and caught it in his mouth. We ended up wrestling for the blue glowing sword as it sizzled in his mouth, making his teeth crumble to sand. That couldn't have felt good, but the croc held on, tugging against me.

"Percy!" I shouted. "Any time now!"

Percy lunged for the necklace. He grabbed hold and started hacking at the gold links, but his bronze sword didn't make a dent.

Meanwhile, the croc was going crazy trying to yank away my sword. My combat avatar started to flicker. Summoning an avatar is a short-term thing, like sprinting at top speed. You can't do it for very long, or you'll collapse. Already I was sweating and breathing hard. My heart raced. My reservoirs of magic were being severely depleted.

**Everyone was now on the edge of there seat. They wanted to know what would happen next.**

"Hurry," I told Percy.

"Can't cut it!" he said.

"A clasp," I said. "There's gotta be one."

As soon as I said that, I spotted it—at the monster's throat, a golden cartouche encircling the hieroglyphs that spelled SOBEK. "There—on the bottom!"

Percy scrambled down the necklace, climbing it like a net, but at that moment my avatar collapsed. I dropped to the ground, exhausted and dizzy. The only thing that saved my life was that the crocodile had been pulling at my avatar's sword. When the sword disappeared, the monster lurched backward and stumbled over a Honda.

The mortal kids scattered. One dove under a car, only to have the car disappear—smacked into the air by the croc's tail.

**"Poor kid." Annabeth said. "They're probably scared to death."**

Percy reached the bottom of the necklace and hung on for dear life. His sword was gone. Probably he'd dropped it.

**Zia notice Percy smiling at the last sentence, like he had a trick up his sleeve. **

Meanwhile, the monster regained his footing. The good news: he didn't seem to notice Percy. The bad news: he definitely noticed me, and he looked mightily torqued off.

**"Well when a kid turns into a hawk warrior thing and attacks me, I would defiantly take notice." Nico said. "Just saying."**

I didn't have the energy to run, much less summon magic to fight. At this point, the mortal kids with their water balloons and rocks had more of a chance of stopping the croc than I did.

In the distance, sirens wailed. Somebody had called the police, which didn't exactly cheer me up. It just meant more mortals were racing here as fast as they could to volunteer as crocodile snacks.

I backed up to the curb and tried—ridiculously—to stare down the monster. "Stay, boy."

**"Woah now," Walt put his hands up in surrender. "Carter's flirting with disaster." **

**"Zia ain't going to like that." Sadie giggled. Zia and Carter blushed as everyone else snickered at the couple.**

The crocodile snorted. His hide shed water like the grossest fountain in the world, making my shoes slosh as I walked. His lamp-yellow eyes filmed over, maybe from happiness. He knew I was done for.

I thrust my hand into my backpack. The only thing I found was a clump of wax.

**Nico raised a brow. "You carry wax with you?" **

**"Yeah," He replied. "We all do. You'll see in a minute." **

I didn't have time to build a proper shabti but I had no better idea. I dropped my pack and started working the wax furiously with both hands, trying to soften it.

"Percy?" I called.

"I can't unlock the clasp!" he yelled. I didn't dare take my eyes off the croc's, but in my peripheral vision I could see Percy pounding his fist against the base of the necklace. "Some kind of magic?"

That was the smartest thing he'd said all afternoon (not that he'd said a lot of smart things to choose from).

**"Okay!" Percy through his hands up in the air. "Now, you truly do sound like Annabeth!" He joked, Annabeth smiled at him, failing at acting mad at him as everyone laughed.**

**"But at least I didn't get eaten by a gator!" **

**"Hey! At least I got a gator!" **

**"Which is still completely unf-!" **

**"Zia read, before this all start again!" **

The clasp was a hieroglyphic cartouche. It would take a magician to figure it out and open it. Whatever and whoever Percy was, he was no magician.

I was still shaping the clump of wax, trying to make it into a figurine, when the crocodile decided to stop savoring the moment and just eat me. As he lunged, I threw my shabti, only half formed, and barked a command word.

Instantly the world's most deformed hippopotamus sprang to life in midair. It sailed headfirst into the crocodile's left nostril and lodged there, kicking its stubby back legs.

**Everyone in the room laughed again. **

**"You shot a hippo up the monster's nose!?" Nico asked. "Thats awesome!"**

Not exactly my finest tactical move; but having a hippo shoved up his nose must have been sufficiently distracting.

**Everyone laughed even more.**

The crocodile hissed and stumbled, shaking his head, as Percy dropped off and rolled away, barely avoiding the crocodile's stomping feet. He ran toto join me at the curb.

I stared in horror as my wax creature, now a living (though very misshapen) hippo, either tried to wriggle free of the croc's nostril or work its way farther into the reptile's sinus cavity—I wasn't sure which.

**"Could you file that under animal abuse?"**

**"You're joking right?"**

The crocodile whipped around, and Percy grabbed me just in time, pulling me out of the trampling path.

We jogged to the opposite end of the cul-de-sac, where the mortal kids had gathered. Amazingly, none of them seemed to be hurt. The crocodile kept thrashing and wiping out homes as it tried to clear its nostril.

"You okay?" Percy asked me. I gasped for air but nodded weakly.

One of the kids offered me his Super Soaker. I waved him off.

**All the girls 'awed'.**

"You guys," Percy told the kids, "you hear those sirens? You've got to run down the road and stop the police. Tell them it's too dangerous up here. Stall them!"

For some reason, the kids listened. Maybe they were just happy to have something to do, but the way Percy spoke, I got the feeling he was used to rallying outnumbered troops. He sounded a bit like Horus—a natural commander.

After the kids raced off, I managed to say, "Good call."

Percy nodded grimly. The crocodile was still distracted by its nasal intruder, but I doubted the shabti would last much longer. Under that much stress, the hippo would soon melt back to wax.

"You've got some moves, Carter," Percy admitted. "Anything else in your bag of tricks?"

"Nothing," I said dismally. "I'm running on empty. But if I can get to that clasp, I think I can open it."  
Percy sized up the petsuchos. The cul-de-sac

**"No." Annabeth hushed Percy.**

was filling with water that poured from the monster's hide. The sirens were getting louder. We didn't have much time.

"Guess it's my turn to distract the croc," he said. "Get ready to run for that necklace."

"You don't even have your sword," I protested. "You'll die!"

Percy managed a crooked smile. "Just run in there as soon as it starts."

"As soon as what starts?"

Then the crocodile sneezed, launching the wax hippo across Long Island. The petsuchos turned toward us, roaring in anger, and Percy charged straight at him.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Sorry if it really wasn't that funny. I thought the while girlfriend war was a decent idea.

So please review And, if you want to, you can answer this questions too:

Who's the best girlfriend out of the 4?

A.) Annabeth

B.) Zia

C.) Sadie

D.) Thalia

Who has the cooler pet(s)?

A.) Carter

B.) Percy

-LF


	4. Chapter 4

The Reading, Part 4

**WALT DIDN'T REALLY KNOW THE guy Percy or any of his friends that well but he could tell that they weren't the kind of people he wanted to mess with. **

**They always seemed to be on guard, like they were always ready to pop into attack, ready to fight if needed. They were powerful morals that were like a load gun, and they had a very easy trigger.**

**But Walt knew that they knew that too-the demigods he means. He knew they, themselves, were dangerous but he could tell it in there eyes that he and his friends had the same impact on them. The demigods were just as scared as the magicians were scared of them. **

**Walt panicked about this when they read the fight sence and Anubis calmly spoken these words inside his head. The god inside him knew something he didn't and was clearly not sharing. **

**Walt felt a tug at his fingers. He turn to find Sadie had suddenly taken his hand, which could mean so msny things. For one, she was giving his a warning about her recent meltdown. _Walt, I promise to all the gods that if you even think of ever speaking about that to anyone- including me- I'll kill you. _Or, she was thanking him for winning the better girlfriend game, which made her blush ruby red and made him smirk._Oh, Walt that was so sweet of you. I can't believe you said thise things about me. I love you. _ Or, maybe she just felt like it. _Can a girl take her boyfriend's hand whenever she feels like it or is it a crime nowadays?_**

**Walt turn back to the reading, hoping this all will be over soon.**

As it turned out, I didn't need to ask what kind of distraction Percy had in mind. Once it started, it was pretty obvious.

He stopped in front of the crocodile and raised his arms. I figured he was planning some kind of magic, but he spoke no command words. He had no staff or wand. He just stood there and looked up at the crocodile as if to say: Here I am! I'm tasty!

**They group of teenagers laughed at the goofy thought.**

The crocodile seemed momentarily surprised. If nothing else, we would die knowing that we'd confused this monster many, many times.

**"Leave them wondering." Nico mumbled and caused a few snickers.**

Croc sweat kept pouring off his body. The brackish stuff was up to the curb now, up to our ankles. It sloughed into the storm drains but just kept spilling from the croc's skin.  
Then I saw what was happening. As Percy raised his arms, the water began swirling counterclockwise. It started around the croc's feet and quickly built speed until the whirlpool encompassed the entire cul-de-sac,

**Annabeth raised her finger to stop Percy but it wasn't him this time. "Cuuuuul-Ddddeeeee-Saaaaaaac." Thalia mused and gotten a glare from the blonde.**

spinning strongly enough that I could feel it pulling me sideways.

By the time I realized I'd better start running, the current was already too fast. I'd have to reach the necklace some other way.

One last trick, I thought.

I feared the effort might literally burn me up, but I summoned my final bit of magical energy and transformed into a falcon—the sacred animal of Horus.

**"You just turned into a bird?!" Annabeth stared at him wide eyed but none of the Demigods seemed really surprised by it. What was there this guy couldn't do?**

Instantly, my vision was a hundred times sharper. I soared upward, above the rooftops, and the entire world switched to high-definition 3-D. I saw the police cars only a few blocks away, the kids standing in the middle of the street, waving them down. I could make out every slimy bump and pore on the crocodile's hide. I could see each hieroglyph on the clasp of the necklace. And I could see just how impressive Percy's magic trick was.

The entire cul-de-sac

**Annabeth glared at them all this time, Even Nico.**

was engulfed in a hurricane. Percy stood at the edge, unmoved, but the water was churning so fast now that even the giant crocodile lost his footing. Wrecked cars scraped along the pavement. Mailboxes were pulled out of lawns and swept away. The water increased in volume as well as speed, rising up and turning the entire neighborhood into a liquid centrifuge.

It was my turn to be stunned. A few moments ago, I'd decided Percy was no magician. Yet I'd never seen a magician who could control so much water.

**He isn't, Walt was sure if it, like all his friends. The room was deadly quite. The mood was akward as ever. Walt felt like he couldn't breath without inhaling sand.**

The crocodile stumbled and struggled, shuffling in a circle with the current.

"Any time now," Percy muttered through gritted teeth. Without my falcon hearing, I never would've heard him through the storm, but I realized he was talking to me.  
I remembered I had a job to do. No one, magician or otherwise, could control that kind of power for long.

I folded my wings and dove for the crocodile. When I reached the necklace's clasp, I turned back to human and grabbed hold. All around me, the hurricane roared. I could barely see through the swirl of mist. The current was so strong now, it tugged at my legs, threatening to pull me into the flood.

I was so tired. I hadn't felt this pushed beyond my limits since I'd fought the Chaos lord, Apophis himself.

**The demigods didn't flinch or anything to that comment but Walt could tell they were thinking about it as they seemed to look distance in there eyes. Sadie glanced at him. She knew it too.**

I ran my hand over the hieroglyphs on the clasp. There had to be a secret to unlocking it.

The crocodile bellowed and stomped, fighting to stay on its feet. Somewhere to my left, Percy yelled in rage and frustration, trying to keep up the storm; but the whirlpool was starting to slow.

I had a few seconds at best until the crocodile broke free and attacked. Then Percy and I would both be dead.

I felt the four symbols that made up the god's name.

The last symbol didn't actually represent a sound, I knew. It was the hieroglyph for god, indicating that the letters in front of it—SBK—stood for a deity's name.

When in doubt, I thought, hit the god button.

I pushed on the fourth symbol, but nothing happened.

The storm was failing. The crocodile started to turn against the current, facing Percy. Out of the corner of my eye, through the haze and mist, I saw Percy drop to one knee.

My fingers passed over the third hieroglyph—the wicker basket (Sadie always called it the "teacup") that stood for the K sound. The hieroglyph felt slightly warm to the touch—or was that my imagination?

No time to think. I pressed it. Nothing happened.

**Hurry up, Carter. Sadie thought inside her head, getting mad at her brother. If he died on her like this...**

The storm died. The crocodile bellowed in triumph, ready to feed.  
I made a fist and slammed the basket hieroglyph with all my strength. This time the clasp made a satisfying click and sprang open. I dropped to the pavement, and several hundred pounds of gold and gems spilled on top of me.

The crocodile staggered, roaring like the guns of a battleship. What was left of the hurricane scattered in an explosion of wind, and I shut my eyes, ready to be smashed flat by the body of a falling monster.

Suddenly, the cul-de-sac was silent. No sirens. No crocodile roaring. The mound of gold jewelry disappeared. I was lying on my back in mucky water, staring up at the empty blue sky.

_**Don't die. Don't die. Don't die. **_**Zia and Sadie thought the same thing. Then remembered Carter was still here...**

Percy's face appeared above me. He looked like he'd just run a marathon through a typhoon, but he was grinning.

"Nice work," he said. "Get the necklace."

"The necklace?" My brain still felt sluggish. Where had all that gold gone? I sat up and put my hand on the pavement. My fingers closed around the strand of jewelry, now normal-size…well, at least normal for something that could fit around the neck of an average crocodile.

"The—the monster," I stammered. "Where—?"

Percy pointed. A few feet away, looking very disgruntled, stood a baby crocodile not more than three feet long.

**Just then something dawn to Walt. He turn to Carter. "I though you got Willy at a pet shelter." **

**"I lied." The boy shrugged. **

**"You named him Willy?" Thalia asked. **

**"Yeah. It's a nice name." Carter stated. **

**"You gave up a pet crocdile?" She turned to Percy. **

**The black haired boy looked back in ashame and fake weeped. "I know. I made a terrible mistake." He sodded kiddingly.**

"You can't be serious," I said.

"Maybe somebody's abandoned pet?" Percy shrugged. "You hear about those on the news sometimes."

I couldn't think of a better explanation, but how had a baby croc gotten hold of a necklace that turned him into a giant killing machine?

Down the street, voices started yelling: "Up here! There's these two guys!"

**"Run boys, run. The cops are on your butts now." Thalia said in a monotone.**

It was the mortal kids. Apparently they'd decided the danger was over. Now they were leading the police straight toward us.

"We have to go." Percy scooped up the baby crocodile, clenching one hand around his little snout. He looked at me. "You coming?"

Together, we ran back to the swamp.

* * *

Sorry it's a short chapter and I'm a day late but I had semster exams that I needed to study. The next Chapter is most likely to be the last. Thanks for reading once again. I don't own anything.

Heres the results of the questions:

Annabeth-6

Zia-1

Thalia-1

Sadie-4

Carter-6

Percy-8

Please Review and keep going with the answers for the questions, next chapter I will declare the winners. So far Percy and Annabeth are in the lead. Thanks for reading and all the supporting reviews.


	5. Author's Note

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

**IMPORTANT FOR NEXT CHAPTER! IM STILL WRITING THIS STORY! DONT WORRY!**

I know, I know. I hate these too, but this is important.

Like I say, the next Chapter will be the last, so I need to do this before I post the next chapter. So, the last of "The Son of Sobek." Is pretty short, and I am going to add a long discussion among the characters about what they should do afterwards. But I also want to make this story end with with some fun for all the readers because if it weren't for y'all I have no idea what I would do. You all rock, and this is my late Christmas Present to y'all.

So here's what I came up with, at the end of the final reading, the characters have tell secrets or do some stupid stuff. Like truth or dare. A Kane Chronicles and Percy Jackson Truth or Dare. And, as y'all probably already know, I'm not that funny. So here where you, The AWESOME readers come in. Comment or PM me the actives you want the characters to do. Assign one for each one, I'm not really going to limit all of it. I'll use as many as I can and if there's a lot Ill make another chapter to put them all in.

No limits except...well, remember this is rated K+, I will accept kisses and all that sweet jazz but nothing M rated.

I will also declare the best girlfriend and boyfriend winners, and give yall the chapter you thought this was. Please don't hate me.

Send in your requests till Wednesday January 1st and I'll post it on the 2nd or 3rd. Make as many as you like, I don't mind at all and this isn't a competition either. Just a little thing I came up with so we all can have a laugh and smile.

Thanks for reading, both this an the story. It means a lot. Don't forget to review!

-LF


	6. Chapter 6

The Final Reading, Part 5

**PERCY JACKSON NOTICE HOW THIN the book became to the right of his hand, only a few pages left. Then they all get to go home. He probably would never see Carter or any of his friend again, which was perfectly fine by him. Now don't get him wrong. He liked all of them but ever since they been here, Percy was on the edge of his seat, nervous and scared something was about to go wrong and a fight would break out. They just had to read the last few pages and everything would be okay again. He took and shared glances with all his friends, and knew they were thinking the same as him.**

**Percy thanked the gods in his mind since the book was in Cater's point of view. Ever since the time they came here, he made sure not to say his name "Carter". His hand witch at the thought.**

**"You know how to read, Seaweed Brain?" Thalia's jaw dropped in fake surprise. Percy rolled his eyes but smiled. Percy was thankful for Thalia and Nico to be with him and Annabeth during all of this. it was out of character for them to be jokers and be friendly, especially for Nico, but they knew, just like him, one false move can cause utter choas, so they keep everyone happy, laughing so no one will get killed.**

**He soon began to read.**

Half an hour later, we were sitting in a diner off the Montauk Highway. I'd shared the rest of my healing potion with Percy, who for some reason insisted on calling it nectar. Most of our wounds had healed.

We'd tied the crocodile out in the woods on a makeshift leash, just until we could figure out what to do with it. We'd cleaned up as best we could, but we still looked like we'd taken a shower in a malfunctioning car wash. Percy's hair was swept to one side and tangled with pieces of grass. His orange shirt was ripped down the front.

I'm sure I didn't look much better. I had water in my shoes, and I was still picking falcon feathers out of my shirtsleeves (hasty transformations can be messy).

We were too exhausted to talk as we watched the news on the television above the counter. Police and firefighters had responded to a freak sewer event in a local neighborhood. Apparently pressure had built up in the drainage pipes, causing a massive explosion that unleashed a flood and eroded the soil so badly, several houses on the cul-de-sac had collapsed.

**"That's a new one." Annabeth mumbled beside him.**

It was a miracle that no residents had been injured. Local kids were telling some wild stories about the Long Island Swamp Monster, claiming it had caused all the damage during a fight with two teenage boys; but of course the officials didn't believe this.

**"I wounded what would happen if they did..." Nico thought to himself.**

The reporter admitted, however, that the damaged houses looked like something very large had sat on them.

"A freak sewer accident," Percy said. "That's a first."

**The couple smiled at each other.**

"For you, maybe," I grumbled. "I seem to cause them everywhere I go."

**There were a few giggles shared by the magicians. Percy thought he was joking at the time, but appearently not.**

"Cheer up," he said. "Lunch is on me."

He dug into the pockets of his jeans and pulled out a ballpoint pen. Nothing else.

"Oh…" His smile faded. "Uh, actually…can you conjure up money?"

**"Oh Seaweed Brain..." Annabeth groan and Nico and Thalia chuckled along with the magicians.**

So, naturally, lunch was on me. I could pull money out of thin air, since I kept some stored in the Duat along with my other emergency supplies; so in no time we had cheeseburgers and fries in front of us, and life was looking up.

"Cheeseburgers," Percy said. "Food of the gods."

"Agreed," I said, but when I glanced over at him, I wondered if he was thinking the same thing I was: that we were referring to different gods.

Percy inhaled his burger. Seriously, this guy could eat. "So, the necklace," he said between bites.

**"Chew and swallow your good before you speak." Thalia explained.**

"What's the story?"

I hesitated. I still had no clue where Percy came from or what he was, and I wasn't sure I wanted to ask. Now that we'd fought together, I couldn't help but trust him. Still, I sensed we were treading on dangerous ground. Everything we said could have serious implication—not just for the two of us, but maybe for everyone we knew.

**Percy didn't really think about it that way. He didn't think of any of this in that way. This meeting right here, in the book and the one happening now could change and maybe even destroy everything for not only him but for all the people he loved in this world...**

**His hand shook a little.**

I felt sort of like I had two winters ago, when my uncle Amos explained the truth about the Kane family heritage—the House of Life, the Egyptian gods, the Duat, everything. In a single day, my world expanded tenfold and left me reeling.

Now I was standing at the edge of another moment like that. But if my world expanded tenfold again, I was afraid my brain might explode.

**Everyone in the room agreed with Carter. This was very dangerous.**

"The necklace is enchanted," I said at last. "Any reptile that wears it turns into the next petsuchos, the Son of Sobek. Somehow that little crocodile got it around his neck."

"Meaning someone put it around his neck," Percy said. I didn't want to think about that, but I nodded reluctantly.

**"Who would want to do that though?" Sadie asked out loud, but no one answered. Percy had thought about this many times, but didn't really have a clue of who would really want to. **

**At the same time, Sadie remembered something surprising important. Lacy. Lacy, the innocent cutie back home at the 21st Nome. She mention that she, along with that brat of a Drew, went to a camp in Manhattan... Where Percy said he was from... If this is what she thinks it is... Lacy wouldnt do something like that though, But maybe Drew... Yes she wasn't a magician, but if she found out...**

"So who?" he asked.

"Hard to narrow it down," I said. "I've got lots of enemies."

Percy snorted. "I can relate to that. Any idea why, then?"

I took another bite of my cheeseburger. It was good, but I had trouble concentrating on it.

"Someone wanted to cause trouble," I speculated. "I think maybe…"

I studied Percy, trying to judge how much I should say. "Maybe they wanted to cause trouble that would get our attention. Both of our attention."

Percy frowned. He drew something in his ketchup with a french fry—not a hieroglyph. Some kind of non-English letter. Greek, I guessed.

"The monster had a Greek name," he said. "It was eating pegasi in my…" He hesitated.

"In your home turf," I finished.

"Some kind of camp, judging from your shirt."

**"Camp Demigods?" Walt guessed.**

**"That's surprisingly close."**

He shifted on his bar stool. I still couldn't believe he was talking about pegasi as if they were real, but I remembered one time at Brooklyn House, maybe a year back, when I was certain I saw a winged horse flying over the Manhattan skyline. At the time, Sadie had told me I was hallucinating. Now, I wasn't so sure.

Finally Percy faced me. "Look, Carter. You're not nearly as annoying as I thought. And we made a good team today, but—"

"You don't want to share your secrets," I said. "Don't worry. I'm not going to ask about your camp. Or the powers you have. Or any of that."

He raised an eyebrow. "You're not curious?"

"I'm totally curious. But until we figure out what's going on, I think it's best we keep some distance. If someone—something—unleashed that monster here, knowing it would draw both of our attention—"

"Then maybe that someone wanted us to meet," he finished. "Hoping bad things would happen."

**"Or maybe they knew something we don't know." Zia wondered. "Such as, they known that one day, our sides will need to join together for a giant reason."**

**"She has a point." Thalia agreed. "This happen for a reason."**

**"But how do we know if was a good reason? That this person didn't want to start choas but intruding Percy and Carter? How do we know that this is right? We been kept apart from each other for a reason probably because the two of us wouldn't be so peaceful." Annabeth challenged. **

**She turn to Percy for support and Percy's breath was gone and his heart skipped a beat once again-like always- but there was still a little something they didn't know.**

**Percy's hand was shaking like mad. He kept reading.**

I nodded. I thought about the uneasy feeling I'd had in my gut earlier—the voice in my head warning me not to tell Percy anything. I'd come to respect the guy, but I still sensed that we weren't meant to be friends. We weren't meant to be anywhere close to each other.

**"See," Sadie pointed out. "This was to never happen. It's oblivious."**

**"Still though..." Nico mumbled. His mood was back to normal at this point since he was serious now. He twirled his skull ring around his finger and was in deep thought. His dark eyes were even dark, to the point you could see that they were blue, and his thin pink lips were in a tigh line. Percy coutined reading. **

A long time ago, when I was just a little kid, I'd watched my mom do a science experiment with some her college students.

Potassium and water, she'd told them. Separate, completely harmless. But together—

She dropped the potassium in a beaker of water, and Ka-blam! The students jumped back as a miniature explosion rattled all the vials in the lab.

Percy was water. I was potassium.

**"Thats deep." Walt whispered. No one really heard him.**

"But we've met now," Percy said. "You know I'm out here on Long Island. I know you live in Brooklyn. If we went searching for each other—"

"I wouldn't recommend it," I said. "Not until we know more. I need to look into some things on, uh, my side—try to figure out who was behind this crocodile incident."

"All right," Percy agreed. "I'll do the same on my side."

He pointed at the petsuchos necklace, which was glinting just inside my backpack. "What do we do about that?"

"I can send it somewhere safe," I promised. "It won't cause trouble again. We deal with relics like this a lot."

"We," Percy said. "Meaning, there's a lot of…you guys?" I didn't answer.

**Percy looked up to see the there other magicians across from him. And these three gave him enough stress on his pankicy nerves. He didnt know how to react with all of them...**

Percy put up his hands. "Fine. I didn't ask. I have some friends back at Ca—uh, back on my side who would love tinkering with a magic necklace like that; but I'm going to trust you here. Take it."

I didn't realize I'd been holding my breath until I exhaled. "Thanks. Good."

"And the baby crocodile?" he asked.

I managed a nervous laugh. "You want it?"

"Gods, no."

**"Turn down the croc, Percy?" Nico glared at him. Percy saw him but act like he didn't. Nico was scary with that glare.**

"I can take it, give it a good home." I thought about our big pool at Brooklyn House. I wondered how our giant magic crocodile, Philip of Macedonia, would feel about having a little friend. "Yeah, it'll fit right in."

Percy didn't seem to know what to think of that. "Okay, well…" He held out his hand. "Good working with you, Carter."

We shook. No sparks flew. No thunder boomed. But I still couldn't escape the feeling that we'd opened a door, meeting like this—a door that we might not be able to close.

"You too, Percy."

**"That should have been our final farewell." Carter mumbled. **

He stood to go. "One more thing," he said. "If this somebody, whoever threw us together…if he's an enemy to both of us—what if we need each other to fight him? How do I contact you?"

I considered that. Then I made a snap decision. "Can I write something on your hand?" He frowned. "Like your phone number?"

**Sadie and Zia knew exactly what was happening, what Carter was doing.**

"Uh…well, not exactly." I took out my stylus and a vial of magic ink. Percy held out his palm. I drew a hieroglyph there—the Eye of Horus. As soon as the symbol was complete it flared blue, then vanished.

"Just say my name," I told him, "and I'll hear you. I'll know where you are, and I'll come meet you. But it will only work once, so make it count."  
Percy considered his empty palm. "So I'm trusting you that this isn't some type of magical tracking device."

"Yeah," I said. "And I'm trusting that when you call me, you won't be luring me into some kind of ambush."

He stared at me. Those stormy green eyes really were kind of scary. Then he smiled, and he looked like a regular teenager, without a care in the world.

"Fair enough," he said. "See you when I see you, C—"

"Don't say my name!"

**"Don't scare him that way!" Sadie looked ready to punch Percy. He was slightly afraid with that roaring fire in her eyes.**

"Just teasing." He pointed at me and winked. "Stay strange, my friend."  
And then he was gone.

**"Oh Percy..." Annabeth smirked. He smiled back at her.**

An hour later, I was back aboard my airborne boat with the baby crocodile and the magic necklace as Freak flew me home to Brooklyn House.

Now, looking back on it, the whole thing with Percy seems so unreal, I can hardly believe it actually happened.

I wonder how Percy summoned that whirlpool, and what the heck Celestial bronze is. Most of all, I keep rolling one word around in my mind: demigod.

I have a feeling that I could find some answers if I looked hard enough, but I'm afraid of what I might discover.

For the time being, I think I'll tell Sadie about this and no one else. At first she'll think I'm kidding. And, of course, she'll give me grief; but she also knows when I'm telling the truth. As annoying as she is, I trust her (though I would never say that to her face).Maybe she'll have some ideas about what we should do.

**"I do." Sadie said. She didn't look as confident as before. "Since Carter put that on your hand. I think it should stay there, in case of emergencies." **

**"But our world is never to know or even meet your world. We all are suppost to be apart from each other." Annabeth pointed out. **

**"But they said that about the Greeks and Romans too. Hell, Percy was even praetor! Just because we weren't suppose to meet thousands of years ago doesn't mean that still includes today. And, if I'm wrong, Percy will never use that thingy on his hand." Nico spoke.**

**"But still. What if somehow there is danger and we misjudge our problem and bring in the Egyptians when we don't mean them. We drag them into our dangerous situation and can possibly cause the end of there lives!" Annabeth was nervous now and the Egyptians didn't look to happy either. **

**"Look," Zia hold up her hands. "Carter gave Percy the connection for a reason- if theres any danger For him and his camp that might also invole us. If that does happen then both worlds would have signs of it coming. If this does happen we need a way to contact each other." **

**"The hieroglyph is so we can see if there really is any danger on there side so we can see if this is the time of joining sides." Nico sided with her.**

**"But what if it's not and we use the hieroglyph? We waste our only strong between either. And what if it is years and years from now? To where Percy is dead and gone? How do we get another one?" Annabeth Question against the two and it looked like Walt was on her side, knodding along with her worring questions. **

**"Annabeth," Thalia said towards her. "It's us! Our lucky is just like this! Hell, this just might be what happens to us in the next hour!" **

**Carter now stood up. "Me and Percy meeting happened for a reason. I admit, I gave it on an impulsive decision, but it was for a good reason. We have no real harm if Percy keeping it. It's in good hands...Or on a good hand... Either way, it's a safety net." Carter looked at Annabeth pleading for her agreement. Percy took her hand for help. He smiled up to her and she smiled back but Percy still could see the uneasiness in her eyes. **

**"I promise, wise girl. This is a good plan." He eased on to her. **

**Annabeth sat down in defeat. Percy kept reading, feeling guilty for her still worried face. **

Whoever brought Percy and me together, whoever orchestrated our crossing paths…it smacks of Chaos. I can't help thinking this was an experiment to see what kind of havoc would result. Potassium and water. Matter and antimatter.  
Fortunately, things turned out okay. The petsuchos necklace is safely locked away. Our new baby crocodile is splashing around happily in our pool.

But next time… Well, I'm afraid we might not be so lucky.

Somewhere there's a kid named Percy with a secret hieroglyph on his hand. And I have a feeling that sooner or later I'll wake up in the middle of the night and hear one word, spoken urgently in my mind:  
Carter

**"Thats the end." Percy laid the book down on the table. "What now?" **

**"I guess we wait to be transported back home." Annabeth said. Everyone sat, waiting but nothing happened. After what seemed like forever, Percy'a ADHD finally got the better of him. **

**"Is anything-?!" Percy was cut off by a small flash of light that faded on the table.**

**None of them moved. Everyone just stared at the red glass bottle with a rolled up piece of a paper and a red rose poking out at the top. Percy was the first to recover and slowly moved towards the bottle, afraid it might explode in his hand. He pulled out the rose and paper, and read what was inside. His mouth soon dropped and his eyes got wide. Oh no...**

**"What is it?" Annabeth took his hand in fear. **

**"Truth or Dare..."**

* * *

_Dear Demigods and Magicians, _

_I'm terribly sorry but I cannot send you back home yet. You must complete an entertaining game of Truth or Dare. Then you will send home and nevet borther again. Thank you. _

"Are you kidding me?!" Thalia screamed up towards the ceiling. "Artemis is going to kill me!"

_Your precious goddess was going to be the cause for the end of your life one way or another. Just be happy she isn't going to turn you into a rabbit or something and hunt you down...maybe. _Nico couldn't help but think as he remembered his sister who was also a hunter when she died. She died for Artemis on a quest to rescue her and Annabeth, along with Percy and Thalia And another hunter name Zoe. Thalia became a hunter shortly after and Nico just hoped she get out of it soon safely. Thalia was his cousin, his friend. He didn't want her to meet the same faith his sister did. Especially if it's all for Artemis.

"I agree with the hunter." Sadie said. She seemed annoyed too with this new request. "Amos is not going to be happy with all if us when we come back."

Nico raise a brow at them. Who was Amos? The magicians were full of mysteries.

"Lets get this over with." Carter mumbled. He took the bottle and handed it to Walt. "You go first."

Walt took it and gave it a good turn. It stopped spinning and landed on his girlfriend, Sadie. The blonde with red strips glared at him, like she was daring his tI try something funny.

"Okay, Sadie, truth or dare?"

"Dare." She responded without hesitating. Walt smiled evilly at her, and she glared at him even more. Carter and Zia scouted away from the two which Percy and Annabeth soon follow. This couldn't be good.

"I dare you to admit, once and for all, that you actually care about your dear brother." Walt smirked even more. Sadie's moUtah dropped open in shock and she glared at Walt with pure anger. But Carter, on the other hand, smiled brightly and move towards Sadie, waiting for her to do her dare.

"Anything you want to say, sister?" Carter leaned in.

"I want to break up." Sadie kept her eyes on Walt. He laughed, "Sure you are."

She soon signed and turn to her brother. She even looked alightly green in the face and like she was trying not to vomit. "Carter...you are not too bad half the time... Most of them most, you're very...caring and...kind... I'm... I'm happy to have you as a brother... I-I... I don't hate you." Sadie stammered through it all but Carter smiled, like he the king of the world. Walt was grinning too.

Sadie, once she regain herself, glance around the room. Nico guessed she wasn't going to use the bottle.

Her eyes landed on Thalia and smiled. "Thalia, truth or dare?"

"Dare." The day Thalia picked truth was the day hell froze over.

"I dare you to put on a pink dress and make up." Sadie said and Thalia looked ready to kill. "Where the h-" Thalia was cut off but a big puffy pink dress landing on her head with a big pack of big. Thalia torn the dress off her head and stared at it in disgust at it. Nico was trying hard not to laugh with Percy. He had a big grin on his face and a loud, happy laugh.

Annabeth was smiling the biggest out of them all. She took Thalia by the wrists, "Come on! I've been dying to pretty you up for years!" Then she grabbed the bag of and they disappear into the bathroom. Nico was now on the floor with Percy and the magicians were giggling uncontrollably by the way Thalia'a face turn to terror and shock as the blonde took her away.

After about 30 minutes of loud unrecognizable noises, snarly curses, and sparks of lighting blasting the door, the two girls returned. Thalia wa s in the hot pink dress that went to the floor and expose one one arm and shoulder. Her face was cover in only a bit of make up but she still looked pretty. Nico made eye contect with Percy. They shared the same thought. Wow...

"Thalia, you look beautiful!" Annabeth cried happily and the others agreed, but Thalia only scowled and then glared at Sadie. Sadie smiled, "Your turn."

Thalia stopped glared at Sadie and turned to Annabeth with an evil grin. Annabeth frowned. "After everything I have done for you-!"

"You put me in a dress and put make up on my face! You're lucky I havn't killed you yet!"

"Technically, Sadie made the dare so-"

"That's it! That's your dare! I dare you not to talk all smart and all that junk for the rest of the week! If we are in here or not! You can say any long words over 8 letters long!"

"Thalia that's not fear! It's Sadie's fault! Not mine!"

"Yeah, but I'm afraid to hit her! For all I know she might turn me into a duck or something! For Hades sake, her brother part chicken!"

"Hey!"

"I can understand that, but still!" Annabeth cried in anger again.

"And you give me you turn!"

Annabeth though her arms up in the air. "Fine!" She then plotted down on the couch beside Percy who was secretly taking pictures of Thalia and posting it on Facebook.

Nico, who was taping the fight, now sat in his chair trying to act innocent as possible as Thalia turned to him. "Who?"

"I say you pick Percy." Nico replied. He didn't really know or care. He just picked Percy because...well why not?

"Percy, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Kiss Sadie." Everyone 'a jaw dropped in shock, then Walt, Sadie, Annabeth, and Percy glared at the daughter of Zues. Nico already started planning his cousin's funeral.

"On the hand." Thalia added before anyone would kill her and the four mad teenagers relaxed. It was okay for a hand kiss, but on the mouth was not going to happen. Nico remembered how the first letter asked them not to kill each other. That was almost broken.

Percy did his dare and Sadie wiped her hand on her jacket which caused all of them to laugh.

But then Nico looked to his left and saw Percy eyeing him with a small grin. Nico tried to ignore the fuzzy feeling in his stomach. This couldn't be good, Nico knew Percy. He played truth or dare with the boy before , and knew how cruel he could be.

"Nico," Percy smiled down at him like prey. Nico's heart began to race like crazy. "Truth or Dare?"

Nico recalled the time Leo said dare when he was in the same situation. Let's just say, Leo was found hanging on the flagpole back at camp, only hanging by 2 rubber bands and only wearing his boxers. And he stayed up there for the next two days. Nico didn't want that to happen to him.

"Truth." Nico replied. Percy looked slightly disappionted by his choice. He thought for a moment.

"Nico, please share with us your deepest darkest secret."

_Oh hell... _Nico thought as he felt everyone's eyes on him. He did have a deep, dark secret but there was no way in hell he was going to share it with everyone in this room. Especially, if Percy was one of them. He had to think something up, they could never tell if he was lying or not, at least that was to his advantage. Nico started to twirl his ring around his finger.

"I'm...I..." Nico couldn't really think of anything to say.

"Yes?" Carter asked.

"I don't have a deep dark secret." Nico replied. "That can count as my secret."

"No it can't!" Annabeth stated in a harsh tone. "You have to have a deep dark secret. Everyone does."

"And I just said that that was my secret." Nico grinned at the girl. It wasn't everyday he out smarted a child of Athena. "You can prove if it's wrong or not, now can you?"

Annabeth bit back her replied and glared playfully at him.

Percy looked disappointed. "I don't like this. I don't like this smart Nico."

"Hey!" Nico said defendantly as everyone else laughed at Percy's joke.

"Me either." Annabeth mumbled. Nico ingored it and picked his next victium from the magicians. Carter seemd like the perfect target.

"Carter, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to give everyone a dare and a truth that they must all complete." Nico said. Carter smiled, "Thanks, I like this game now."

"Oh gods..." Percy groaned. "This can't turn out well."

"Okay," Carter rubbed his hands together excitedly. "I'll start with Zia."

"Remember Carter, she's probably the only girlfriend you'll ever get." Sadie said beside him and he glared at her.

"Zia, who in this room do you want to throw a fireball at the most?" Carter asked.

"Right now, its between you, for actually doing this." She joked with him. "Or Nico for the power he gave you."

Nico greeted her with a innocent look, and Carter just smiled. "Okay then. I was going to dare you to throw a fireball at them, but Nevermind. So just give me a second to think of any other one here."

"The last time we play this at camp," Percy giggled. "We made Jason do a dance for Frank. Remember that, Nico?" Both the boya laughed at the memory.

Thalia's jaw dropped. "You made my brother give a lap dance to the chinese Canadian!?"

Everyone laughed at that statement. Percy and Nico were on the floor. "We never said anything about a lap dance!" Percy managed to get out through his laughing fit.

"I think we jist gave Carter his new dare." Nico chuckled and him and Percy started to die of laugher again.

Zia stopped laughing and glared at her boyfriend as he began to swear he waant going to do that. Her hand was out like she was ready to throw a fireball at him.

"You know what? You don't have to do a dare!" Carter promised and Zia smiled and put her hand away. She seemed please of how easy it was for her to control Carter and get what she wanted.

"Walt! Who do you find most annoying in this room?"

"Thalia." He said automatically. Thalia waved at him and smiled.

"Now, kiss a girl in here execpt Sadie or Zia."

"CARTER!" Sadie looked ready to kill her brother but Walt hold her back.

"You ain't kissing me." Thalia stated. "I'll be killed. But, of course, before then, I'll kill you."

Percy then did the math in his head which took him a minute. "Oh, NO! Annabeth is mine!"

"Oh calm down Fishboy." Walt signed. "Annabeth just give me your hand." The blonde did so and Walt kissed it. Sadie didn't killed anyone, and Percy didn't cause any water trouble.

"Well that went good, surprisingly." Carter noted and turn to his sister who was still glaring at him. "Sadie, who do you want to punch right now?"

"You. My dear, sweet, loving, darling, amazing brother." She said all of this through gritted teeth.

"Good, I'm doing my job then." Carter winked at her playfully. "Now do a imitation of someone in this room."

Sadie actually smiled at her dare. She immediately flopped her feet onto the table and locked her fingers together and settled them into her lap as she laid back in her chair. Nico realized quickly that she was sitting like he was. He raise a brow at the blue eyed girl as other began to snicker.

"Hello." Sadie spoke in an imitation of a low and deep voice that sounded like Nico's. "I am Nico DI Angelo. I am also known as the Ghost King. I appear to be an eom and depressed teenage boy."

Everyone was laughing at Sadie and her play on Nico. He even cracked a little smile to keep the high spirits but it seemed kinda mean of Sadie to call him eom and depressed. So Nico decided to pull the new trick he just learned recently. Nico put his fingers to his lips.

"I am the son of Hades, whate-" Sadie'a mouth just shocked closed. she tried to open it back up but couldn't. Everyone was cracking up. Percy was on the floor again and Walt wasn't far behind.

"Is that permanent?" Carter asked.

"Only if you want it too?" Nico offered.

Carter thought about it for a minute. "I'll get back to you on that."

Sadie screamed at him as much as she could through a sealed mouth.

"Now Percy! How many times have you wanted to kill me during the little adventure we had?"

Percy looked up to the sky in either thought or praying to the gods for an answer. Then he began counting on his fingers. He stopped at nine. "About nine times." he answered cooly. "I'm sorry but I found you really annoying. at the time I mean. before I knew how cool you were."

"Thanks." Carter smiled. "Now you have to dance for all of us for 3 minutes. And no lap dancing please."

Percy shrugged. "I'm going to need music." Just then 'Let's See How Far We've Come' by MatchBox 20 came on. Percy started right away. He began to do crazy dance moves that no one had ever seen before. He just rocked out in front of everyone who were roared with uncontrollable giggles. Once he was over he landed on the spot next to Annabeth, to find he and she were the only ones who were not on the floor laughing. Nico saw Percy blushed a little and it was a pretty rosey pink color that was spread into his cheeks.

After all of them calm down, Carter moved on. "Annabeth, who do you want to kill the most in this room?"

"Percy, because that was humiliating." She joked, still slightly giggling.

"Humiliating is over 8 letters!" Nico called out.

"Annabeth!" Thalia cried. She pinch her that popped out sparks. Annabeth squealed and jumped away from her friend and glared at her while rubbing her arm.

Thalia only smiled. Carter moved along, and Nico hoped Annabeth say anything no-no word.

"Now swallow a huge spoon full of salt." Just then a giant spoon that hold what looked like a hold bag of salt appear in front of Annabeth. The girl swallow away her fear and open her mouth for the spoon. The spoon went into her mouth by its self and pulled of her mouth and disappear. Annabeth swallowed and squirmed at the way her throat felt but she pulled herself together and took the water bottle that sat on the table for her. She didn't see it appear.

"Okay, now Thalia." Carter turn towards her. "How mad are you really about your make over?"

"Very." She snarled.

"Good. But I think you would look even better in a puffier, pinker, and even more girly dress. I just want to see if I'm right."

Thalia started at the Kane boy with pure hatred. Then, a dress that was exactly like what Carter describe.

"There is no way in hell-" A bright light flashed, right were Thalia was sitting. It almost blinded Nico but when it died down Thalia stood with a new dress on and Nico just about died. She looked like the good witch from The Wizard of Oz. She had the giant crown on her head, the ungodly puffy sleeves, and everything.

Everyone burst out laughing, unable to control themselves at the sight of Thalia. The black haired girl's face turn bright red but she didn't hurt anyone, or worst, pinch anyone.

Once they all calm down again, Carter turn to his last victim.

"Nico, the last but not the least. Im going to just skip the truth part and go straight to the dare. Tell us the at least 3 crushes you had in your life."

"Okay," Nico called. "What is up with all you people? What is today? 'Pick on Nico' Day?"

"Like you have any room to talk." Thalia growled at him. She was sitting down in her chair which made her dress puff out of the sides. The ends of her gown were tickling the end of his face. He whacked them away.

Nico panicked again, on the inside of course. The only crush Nico ever had was the one he still had... And he was not going to admit that. So he thought of a few lies-some fake girls with fake names- to tell them. Some they couldn't prove if it was true or not.

"In preschool, I like some Sally girl because she was the prettiest out of the class. Then Maggie Jean moved in at the end of the year and she was the new shiny toy. Then in, like, the summer before either 1st or 2nd grade, Rebecca Smith or something like that, became a friend of my sister and she came over a lot but I never really got the courage to talk to her." Nico finished. He spoke it all like it was a little thing to talk about, even though he tried very hard to keep a straight poker face.

"Okay." Carter accepted his answer.

"Do you think that was good enough game to go home on?" Annabeth asked and before any of them could even blink, a blinding flash of light cover everything that they could see and suddenly they were back home.

* * *

Thanks for reading! I couldn't have done it without any of y'all support! Hope y'all liked it!

WINNERS: Girlfriend- Annabeth Chase Best Pets- Percy Jackson

Thanks to everyone who comment for the dare and truths. I know I didn't use it all but I still couldn't have done it with y'all.

Thank you reading for everything. I don't own anything.

-LF


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